What work has been done to improve this site for birds and other wildlife? How long did it take?

I bought a townhome with a small 20×30 foot backyard. When it rained, water ran through the yard.

I planted small trees first and the lawn crew accidentally killed them with weed trimmers. So, I got a mulberry and American hazelnut when I joined a local park group and put one foot wire fences around them. These trees lived. Later a river birch, then a sweet gum, and sycamore volunteered. Finally, I started a small vegetable garden.

I have a small vernal pool in the corner of the yard where red buds have volunteered, feeding a local Virginia opossum. I keep the sycamore and sweet gum small, to keep them out of neighbor’s properties. I tip them in the winter and use the branches to make a Carolina Wren habitat in the back of the yard.

My Dad and I planted a native fringe tree (Chionanthus virginicus) and some cardinal flower. Under the mulberry, I planted forest plants: grape fern, crane fly orchids, and rattlesnake plantain, but only the grape fern took off.

A neighbor left two logs at my gate and I added those to the yard. Also, I scattered some seeds in the garden, which is now fallow and may have some pussytoes (Antennaria Gaertn.

Are there any tough decisions that had to be made regarding its management? How were they handled?

Originally, running water did not soak into the ground in my yard. With the landscape additions I have made, at this point, I don’t have water runoff issues. A neighbor asked if I wanted to run a drain pipe out through their yard. But I only have minimal standing water in March when it rains on already saturated soil. Once the trees leaf out for the spring, the water disappears as the trees are busy growing and photosynthesizing. I declined the drainage pipe offer.