The contractors hired by our local electric co-op now routinely leave the shredded trimmings on the ground for the homeowners and only remove them if asked to. It is a cost-saving measure for them.

They trimmed our treeline along the electic wires and for 15 feet on either side of the wires in December. I left the trimmings where they fell so they can decompose and enrich the soil there. However, if I had needed them to use as mulch, I would have gathered them up and used them.

One thing about that, though, is that whatever is in the trimmings will end up in your landscape, and this can include poison ivy, mistletoe, etc. One year I raked up the trimmings and used them as mulch around the house and was rewarded with several new plants that grew from debris in those trimmings, including an oak tree and virginia creeper, both of which I kept.

Thank You Okie for the information!I will certainly keep an eye out for unwanted growths in My gardens.Only promblem I have is identifying the difference between good and bad stuff.Its the same prob I have with snakes>Dont know if its poisenous or not so I dont like any I see!One of many things I need to learn about plants,trees and wildlife.I bought this property(house on 5 acres in an area near slaughterville)3-1/2 yrs ago and am learning new things about country living.

Tornadoman,

Glad the info helps. I have studied the animal and plant life on our 14.5 acres ever since we moved here. We have amazing plant and animal diversity, and I do what I can to encourage the good stuff and discourage the bad stuff.

Snakes are easy. If it has a pointed head, it is most likely a venomous snake. Also, venomous snakes seem to be more aggressive whereas non-venomous snakes tend to turn and slither away in hopes of avoiding a confrontation. Many non-venomous snakes, though, have coloring and markings similar to venomous ones, so it can be difficult to figure out what they are at times. My favorite snake (and, in general, I don't really like snakes) is the rough green snake. They like to sit in the southern wax myrtles that sit outside my bay window. They are non-venomous and are really pretty.

It is fun learning about country living. We are in our ninth year here and I am still learning.

Dawn

It is becoming more fun for a city dweller, too, Dawn. I have lots of wildlife around here. I had two huge doves last week visiting my trees. I have possums, snakes, a resident toad, many different species of birds, butterflies, and moths. I wish I could find more garden snakes here, though.

Problem with wildlife, is if you create a haitat they will come, because development has caused them loss of their own. Builders could care less, especially in Oklahoma. When I lived in the NE, they were so cautious about only cutting out enough land to build a home, and not with leveling the entire section of trees and shrubs to build homes. Not so here in Oklahoma. We just plow everything down, and then build from scratch, and that takes many, many years to do. I have my families of cardinals that mate for life and stay here for life, and my wrens, my jays, my mockingbirds, my woodpeckers (downy), my owl (I hear him every morning; one time I saw him--YIPPEE!). I do everything I can to call them in. I plant berry-producing shrubs (elderberry; chokecherry; viburnum; Virginia Creeper, porcelain vine, rhus aromatica).

If I think I know it all, I've gained nothing. So, I'm in a perpetual state of learning, like Dawn.

I let the weeds grow just to see what comes up. Last year, I had a wild coreopsis, wild asters, wild thistle, all of which the butterflies loved! I had hundreds of Dainty Yellows all over those asters.

So, now I just let my backyard grow because there's always something new that comes up from birds "dropping" in. LOL!

Susan