Catio

If you like your cats and you like wildlife, do them both a favor and keep your cats inside.  Cats live longer, healthier lives as indoor cats, and wildlife and your neighbor’s vegetable beds benefit from not having your cats roaming the neighborhood.  Study after study demonstrates not only the adverse effect that house cats have on wildlife (from song birds to the endangered Florida panther), but how far your seemingly lazy, well-fed little friend actually travels.  Also, study after study finds how much shorter cats lives are when they are allowed to roam. 

Cats are curious and like to look outside, and watch birds, people, leaves, whatever, and we try to provide them with ways of doing just that.  One minor thing I did was add a window to one of our storm doors, so they can look out when the door is closed.  

Chester is dissatisfied with just a window.

They use the window a lot, but they also would like to spend more time enjoying the sights, sounds and smells of the garden.  

The window looks both ways and is effective for not just cats, but chickens and Chihuahuas.

Winston gets supervised time in the garden (the only one of our cats that does), but it is seldom and I know he likes to feel the wind in his hair, so that lead to my recent project- a Catio (“cat” + “patio” = awesome).  

From left to right, Winston, Chester and Gary investigating their new Catio.

I first learned about a Catio a few years ago from an announcement for a Catio Tour in Portland.  I was intrigued.  The fifth annual tour is scheduled for September 9.

This was a fun project and one that I could get all the materials from Home ReSource (using reused and repurposed materials is one of my passions).  This Catio is made from 3 wood frame window screens and these screens are common at Home ReSource.

These window screens sell for about $3 each and they are a common byproduct of people upgrading their windows in Missoula.  They were really common on the vast amount of homes built here between the 1910’s and the 50’s.  It is nice to find a use for a common thing like these (and hollow core doors, but that is another issue).  

The rest of the Catio is constructed from 2x stock reclaimed from homes), plywood from shipping crates, reused lag bolts, screws, and the brackets (above) are re-purposed fence posts.   

I also got laminate flooring, roofing felt, flashing, drip edge, roofing nails, wood screws, and carpet remnants for the Catio furniture (the scratching post), 

In all this project cost about $35.

It is not totally complete, I plan to add a shelf (a second floor) for the cats to lounge, but I wanted to see how that enjoy and use the current space. 

One of the nice things about this project is that it is portable.  Ultimately, we plan to install French doors in place of this window.  When we get around to that project (or “if”), we can move this to another window.  

the Catio installed from our bedroom window

This will allow our cats some time to spend outside but protects them, and protects our wildlife visitors from them. 

A new use for this old blog; a reference

So I haven’t really been keeping up with this blog and frankly I am not sure of its fate. Since I haven’t been updating it regularly like I once did, this blog has turned into more of a static website, and I think that is fine. I think the value of this blog lies in is utility as reference and as a resource to cover topics in depth, but after eight (!) or so years, I find many of the issues with native plants and wildlife gardening keep coming up, so rather than reposting an old article or updating a subject I have written before,  I am thinking about turning these posts into a book (though I have been threatening that for a while). 



When I started this blog in 2009, social media was really (at least to me) in its infancy.  Now, platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are a more useful tool for updates and news.  As a result, I post garden news and pictures on these platforms, ignoring this blog.  But I do think the in depth articles I have posted are a compliment to a nice Instagram photo.  Having said that, some of the most commonly requested topics are the following:

• How to remove a lawn
• How to build an urbanite path
• How to build a bee house (in 5 minutes!)
• How to build a brush pile (hint: it is easy!)
• Why not to use bird feeders
• Your garden as a bird feeder
• Bird house basics
• Honey bees suck (yes, you read that correctly)
• Pollinator (or whatever) garden
• Should I start my new garden by seeding (the answer is NO)?

In general, "why native plants are important" is always a common topic, and the subject of the whole blog!

I still post unique or timely things, like our Cat of the Year or SponCon projects, but day to day social media seems to suit the general needs of this one time blogger!

So, please follow me on Instagram or Facebook!

Native Plant and Wildlife Gardening Classes in September!

 

This September, my wife and I will each teach a class through the Missoula County Public Schools Lifelong Learning Center.  We each taught classes last year; Marilyn taught a class on composting, and I taught one on native bees and building a native solitary nesting bee box. 

A successful class!

We both enjoyed teaching such wonderful and engaged students so much, we will be back!
This time, on September 15, I will be teaching a one evening class on gardening for wildlife, obviously one of my favorite topics!
Here is the description of the class from the Lifelong Learning Center's website:

• Do you want to create a sustainable landscape that attracts and encourages wildlife? If so, join David as he teaches you to provide all the features to draw birds, butterflies and other wildlife to your garden. This is a one night class where you will discuss the various components of creating an oasis for you and for wildlife in your garden.

Native plants attract insects!

Two days later (on September 17), Marilyn, one of the best native plant botanists in the state, will teach about native plants in the fall, how to plant, what to plant and how to identify.  What a great native plant and wildlife garden week!

Fall colors in the native plant garden

Here is a description of her class from the Lifelong Learning Center Website:

• Who says it’s time to put your garden to rest? With the right plants and methods, fall is the prime time to create a beautiful color landscape. By using native plants (perennials, shrubs and trees) your fall garden will look beautiful for you and for birds getting ready to spend winter in Montana. We'll discuss plants with late blooms, leaves of all colors, and which shrubs bear interesting fruits and pods. We'll also talk about fall planting methods and how much to tidy up the garden for winter.
  

To register click here.

Hope to see you at one of these classes!

Trailer Mover

Beyond plants in the garden we have a lot of structure- trellises, outbuildings (greenhouse, tool closet, chicken coop, grill shed) and even our camper.  The camper makes a delightful addition as a little "guest house" in our backyard when we are not in the mountains or prairies camping.  People often ask how we get our camper in the garden tongue-first (as opposed to backing it in, the conventional way).  

That is a good question. After some research, I purchased a "heavy duty" trailer dolly Like the one below (I don't have a picture of mine anymore, because I cut it up for scrap and reused some parts of it).

Not my photo, don't buy one of these.

Not surprisingly these are all made in China, and since I don't buy anything new from China,  (A little sidebar, this reminds me I need to update this buy nothing from China project, it has been almost two years since I began that endeavor, but I digress...) I was able to find one used.  I was a little dubious about the quality, but people swore by them.  The first time I used it I noticed a lot of flexing, so I strengthened it with some welds and bolstered it in a few places with some steel supports.  This seemed to help the rigidity and it seemed to transfer torque and force to the matter at hand.
Nevertheless, I wasn't really satisfied with it.   Those trailer dollies probably work really well on a level compacted surface (like a concrete driveway) but going from our alley into our garden was a two or three person job.

Unfortunately, it was usually me and my wife struggling to move it, which usually lead to the trailer going where it was supposed to, but also involved an argument (probably my fault). So I figured I could find a better way to do this and I could probably build something that would make it a one person job.  After some searching online for dolly plans, I found plans to make a battery powered trailer mover.  The plans came in either heavy duty or light duty plans.  I went with the heavy duty.

It turned out to be a really fun project and very enjoyable, and even a little challenging.  But best of all, it works!  And it looks cool.  And it was fun to build.  And it helped save our marriage.  

The skeleton of the mover.

The mover uses a 12V winch you modify to accept a sprocket. The winch turns a HUGE sprocket on the axle connected to the front wheels (those big lawn tractor tires). From a welding and fabrication standpoint, it was a really fun project.  Did I mention that already?

The completed mover.

It is slow, but it could probably move a house.  In retrospect, I could have probably gotten away with the gearing or the smaller front tires from the lighter duty model. But I would definitely recommend the rear tire configuration of the heavy duty model for traveling over uneven surfaces (the light duty model uses swiveling casters).

Hooked up the the trailer- a thing of beauty.

Here it is hooked up to my trailer before I bring it into the garden through the removable fence panel.

Easily making the 90 degree turn from the alley into our backyard.

Moving the trailer is now a one person job. It is really easy to maneuver over rough ground, and even in mud.  The motor (the winch) is controlled by a remote switch I mounted to the handle, so you can toggle forward and backward with your thumb.  Turning the mover (and trailer) is easily done with the long handle.

Now moving the camper is a one person job.

I was able to get a lot of the components for it from Home ReSource (some steel, wheels, and hardware), and used parts (like the winch) online, and even from cutting up the original dolly! I was able to get a pretty big used (made in the USA) gel battery for it from the Axman, for only $45.  On a single charge I was able to move the trailer back and forth from the garden to the alley all spring, summer and fall.  Since it is a gel battery, I don't have to worry about it in the winter, which is good, because I just wanted to leave it outside.