Photos of Our Outdoor Russian Tortoise Enclosure and Garden

Oxalis

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Wowsers, just got caught up on this.

Looks awesome. Congratulations and thanks for sharing.

Very impressive & your dedication is inspiring.
Many thanks! Let me know if you have any questions about native gardening. :)

Yesterday:

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All the plants loved the sunshine. Little Stevie stopped by to say hi to Mommy!

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And then Mommy went back to work on Monday and was sad. XD Here's the garden today (with bonus tiki sign!):

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Now all the neighborhood torts will know where the tiki party's at. ;)
 

MichaelaW

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I admire your garden so much! How much watering do you do? I'm always on the lookout for drought tolerant wildflowers.
 

Oxalis

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I admire your garden so much! How much watering do you do? I'm always on the lookout for drought tolerant wildflowers.
We recently went through quite a dry period and just this past week received some rain. I would try to water a bit on the dry days, but if I missed it, I didn't feel too bad. ;) Our native plants are quite used to the odd Michigan climate. If you're interested in some Illinois natives, I've found a list of nurseries that you might enjoy: http://grandprairiefriends.org/nurseries.php I have been to a couple on the Michigan list (in fact I'll be at one this Saturday too). :D

And because I'm a librarian, you might also find these helpful: Illinois recommended plants from the Wildflower Center: https://www.wildflower.org/collections/collection.php?collection=IL and an Illinois Native Plant Guide from the USDA, which honestly looks a little cool albeit a good chunk of reading: http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/il/plantsanimals/?cid=nrcs141p2_030715

I take plant lists and cross-reference them against The Tortoise Table. At first, I was surprised to find so many natives that are tort-safe! Besides plantain and dandelion, many of them are in the rose, aster, and mallow families. The flowers make great tort treats while providing your yard with some lovely color. Another benefit: some natives birds enjoy will enjoy the seeds too. Goldfinches love my evening primrose seeds and don't bother Steve at all. :cool:
 

TerrapinStation

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@Oxalis In your professional opinion, would a Fig tree survive in Michigan climate? or would it have to go indoors/garage over the winter?

We had a crazy spring (life-wise), and never had a chance to plant the flowers and vegetables we had planned on. we have an area ready in the yard, but did not utilize it this year. Will definitely be stealing some of your ideas for next year......
 

Oxalis

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@Oxalis In your professional opinion, would a Fig tree survive in Michigan climate? or would it have to go indoors/garage over the winter?

We had a crazy spring (life-wise), and never had a chance to plant the flowers and vegetables we had planned on. we have an area ready in the yard, but did not utilize it this year. Will definitely be stealing some of your ideas for next year......
My dad has a fig tree in his backyard (here in southern Michigan) and it is planted in the ground outside and makes it through the winter. I will ask him if he covers it for cold nights or anything but I don't think so. I think I remember him saying that the fig tree has weird years where it produces more fruit than other years and he can't seem to figure out why. I'm not sure which species he has, but I would recommend Ficus carica (which is likely the one he has). Michigan is one of the states where it has been introduced and it's not marked as "invasive" or anything. :) So it should be able to withstand our mighty winters!

Steal away! :D Providing this oasis for my tort has been one of the best hobbies I've ever had!!
 

Oxalis

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@Oxalis In your professional opinion, would a Fig tree survive in Michigan climate? or would it have to go indoors/garage over the winter?
Here's the response from my dad about his fig tree. (He's known for his green thumb in the family.) ;)
I usually prune it down in the late fall and then cover it with leaves. Some of the old timers would cover the entire tree in plastic but whatever. Try to get it planted in a very sunny area. Be patient with it because it doesn’t come up right away in the spring.
 

Pearly

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How did i miss such great thread?! Love it!!!! @Oxalis I love your tort garden! And where did you get the tortoise crossing sign???!!! I need one!!!! It's too funny! Love it!
 

klawran1

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I've been following this since you started the enclosure. I absolutely love how grown up it is. I'm working on my Russian's pen now and we have a long way to go to get that much to grow, but I have hope! It looks great.
 

Oxalis

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How did i miss such great thread?! Love it!!!! @Oxalis I love your tort garden! And where did you get the tortoise crossing sign???!!! I need one!!!! It's too funny! Love it!
Thanks!!! :D Here's the tort Xing sign from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BXM9FUK/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20 As you can see, the image doesn't exactly match my sign (not sure how that happened) but it'll do.
I've been following this since you started the enclosure. I absolutely love how grown up it is. I'm working on my Russian's pen now and we have a long way to go to get that much to grow, but I have hope! It looks great.
Thanks so much for the kind words! I couldn't have done it without all the help from my finance (he'll officially be hubby next month)! :) It took a long time to get where it is now, but I always recommend utilizing some plants native to your area to increase your garden's sustainability. Many of them make great tort food, although my Steve almost never passes up a good dandelion leaf. Natives can lower the amount of maintenance you put into the garden, saving you lots of stress! ;) Everything in here grew so fast. Stevie will never go hungry again!

There's Stevie today, smiling for his mama! :D

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Oxalis

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Stevie sunning this morning. This is his spot!

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The beautiful fall colors in the garden yesterday: asters, rose, Coreopsis, and even some Spirea has bloomed again.

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Oxalis

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A couple photos from a week ago. Stevie enjoying a flower from Hubby's Hibiscus moscheutos 'Kopper King'. Delicious!

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Steve getting some sunbathing time in:

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Yvonne G

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The beautiful fall colors in the garden yesterday: asters, rose, Coreopsis, and even some Spirea has bloomed again.

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I planted some coreopsis in the box turtle yard just to add some color. It was the first time I dealt with this plant. I really like it.
 

Oxalis

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Do you have to get new plants every year?
Most of the tortoise plants are perennials and native to Michigan, so they come back on their own each year and are well adapted to our climate. :) They also support the local wildlife; right now, the goldfinches are flying through the chicken wire to eat the evening primrose seeds. They love them!
Lovely photos.
Does Hubby mind Stevie eating all his prize blooms ?;)
There are plenty to go around for little Stevie!! :D
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I planted some coreopsis in the box turtle yard just to add some color. It was the first time I dealt with this plant. I really like it.
Yeah, they're fairly low maintenance over here. Sometimes I will dead-head them, but other times I just leave them and haven't noticed a difference in the plant.
 
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Oxalis

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Finally spring has started to bloom here in Michigan. The temperature got up to around 70°F (21°C) today, so little Stevie got to play outside in his garden. :)

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While Stevie got in his exercise, I started cleaning out some of the dead plants and leaves from last year. Steve found some tasty dandelion near his mulberry bush. The mulberry got a couple handfuls of some brand new compost from our backyard bin (as well as soon tortie poopies), so I'm hoping it has a great year! I also removed the rose plant on the right side of the photo so the mulberry should receive more sun.

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Here's the garden when I decided I was done for the day. Steve is still out in the sunshine for a little while longer. Soon he'll have many new plants growing too. I can't wait to do some planting!

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