The Xeric Garden Club of Albuquerque has created a Certified Wildlife Habitat Garden. The requirements for certification set by the National Wildlife Federation created the framework to design and plant the garden. The garden, designed by Albuquerque resident Virginia Burris, provides food, water, shelter and places to raise young. The Xeric Garden Club’s Wildlife Habitat Garden utilizes native plants to accomplish this
goal and incorporates both coniferous and deciduous
plants varying in heights from trees to very small shrubs.
The change in heights accommodates the needs of various wildlife creatures and the native plant selection attracts butterflies, birds and bees providing food, cover
and pollination to other plants. Several water sources includ-ing rocks with natural basins provide the needed water.
    While the Xeric Garden Club’s goal is to educate children and adults of the importance of providing an urban sustainable habitat for native plants and wildlife, it
also provides a template that can be easily replicated in a homeowner’s modest yard.
By receiving certification
from the National Wildlife Federation the club has joined
a prestigious group of NWF members across the country, who have received recognition for protecting and nurturing wildlife in their own yards, schools and community spaces.
    By using native plants
the Xeric Garden Club of Albuquerque is helping to maintain the natural order of all living organisms by nurturing the relationships that have evolved over millennia between plants and animals in this environment.