The greater the number of people who use the guide, the cleaner the river and her tributaries will become. Developing a wildlife habitat to benefit the Elizabeth River and any waterway anywhere goes beyond hanging just a few birdfeeders, says Melissa. To attract wildlife to live and breed in a habitat, you need to plant or preserve a dense cover with native plants. This can be created on a small scale in a city backyard or preserved on a large scale similar to the 142-acre Hoffler Creek Wildlife Preserve in Portsmouth. It's important to choose the correct mix of native plants.
Some wildlife prefers large canopy trees, others take to lower understory trees.
Many small animals like shrubs, vines and ground covers. Tiered plantings bring you a diverse mix of animals. The Elizabeth River wildlife habitat guide gives the design for a small back yard bird garden, using serviceberry, yaupon holly, beautyberry, inkberry holly, Eastern red cedar, spicebush, arrowwood viburnum, possumhaw viburnum, coreopsis, aromatic aster, purple coneflower, swamp sunflower, switchgrass, black-eyed Susan and showy goldenrod. Sometimes that dense cover can be achieved through a no-mow zone. Chesapeake residents Robert and Carol Warren live on the Indian River, a tributary of the Elizabeth River.