Yard of the Month connects to nature preserve

June Yard of the Month winners Rickey Anderson and Julie Hansen of 4107 Saxony Circle have a backyard that blends into the adjoining Riverside Prairie Preserve. It's hard to tell where one ends and the other begins.

"It's like a nature preserve in the backyard," Anderson said.

Anderson and Hansen, who live in Woodbury Heights, will often spot foxes, bobcats, turkeys, pheasants, raccoons, woodchucks, red tail hawks, eagles and other wildlife from their back door. They alsoreceive visits from birds, such as hummingbirds andorioles.

From the ridge, the homeowners can see Ponca State Park, Elk Point, Port Neal and other places of interest in the Siouxland area.

"It overlooks the Dakota Dunes development. It's an amazing view," said Hansen, an equipment operator for MidAmerican Energy.

The couple haveenjoyed thescenery for the past six years.It's what drew them to the property and made them decide to live there.

When Anderson and Hansenbought their home, they made several enhancements.They brought in rock, which they placed above the back wall, around their deck, and next to the house. They also built one of the berms.

Around the house they planted a variety of perennials including daylilies, barberry bushes, Royal Candles, fountain grass, an Oriental lilac tree, hostas and a red azalea bush. Under the white flowering crabtreetree in the front yardare Russian sage, daylilies, hostas, and knockout roses that the homeowners had to replant because of the cold winter. On the side of the house are dark purple irises that look like velvet, and in the backyard, around the deck, are lilac bushes and purple salvia.

In the back, on the wall, the homeowners put ina row of catmint, another perennial. It attracts a lot of bumblebees.

"Deer don't disturb it," said Anderson, who is retired from the postal service. "When you have wildlife, you have to work with them. They like to eat plants. They love geraniums, so you have to spray. Otherwise, there will be none left the next day."

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Yard of the Month connects to nature preserve