5Ways to Encourage Wildlife into Your Garden
Attracting wildlife into your garden requires the right plant species and other features that will not only get their attention but make them feel right at home. This man-made habitat (your backyard garden) can provide wildlife with the comforts they need even to raise their young. Wildlife gardening has become so popular over the years and is still on the rise.
This increased awareness has inspired many home gardens to turn their backyards into a safe haven since many of their (wildlife) habitats have been destroyed to make way for roads and building structures. The presence of wildlife in our backyards will not only bring our gardens to life but can be both entertaining and educational, if you’ve ever thought of lending a hand to wildlife then creating a garden or transforming you’re existing garden into a wildlife garden can help. Here are 6 ways to make your backyard wildlife friendly.
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1. Selecting the Right Types of Plants
We all want a garden that’s beautiful but selecting the right plant species is so important, plants that are chosen should be native colorful, and bright with sweet fragrances, some of these plants for example are Sunflower, lavender, butterfly weed, cardinal flower, roses, aster, butterfly bush, honeysuckle, purple coneflower, milkweed, goldenrod ect…
The use of flowering plants can be planted in masses, remember wildlife loves colors so planting in masses will cause wildlife to spot plant species more easily, another benefit of these splashes of colors is creating a garden that’s beautiful.
2. Planting Shrubs ad Trees
The installation of shrubs and trees is another feature that will attract wildlife, remember diversity (different plant species) is one of the key components, trees, and shrubs cannot only provide a nesting and resting place but can offer coverage from the elements especially if the weather is not favorable and as a safe haven against predators. Some shrubs that can be used are hawthorn, viburnum, flowering crabapple, service berry, scarlet firethorn, flowering dogwood, Colorado blue spruce, wild cherry, dog rose, dogwood, Silver birch, etc…
3. Thick Hedges and Grasses
Your wildlife friends will really appreciate your efforts with the use of thick hedges and grasses, these areas can also act as a safe zone for wildlife, if there is wildlife that’s using the hedges and grasses as a nesting site try as much as possible not to distribute these areas because what you don’t want is to scare them away. Some grasses that will attract wildlife are Canada wild rye, blue fescue, Indian grass, little bluestem, switchgrass, etc…
4. Adding a Water Feature
A mini pond can really kick things off, these ponds will attract frogs, turtles, birds, and bugs, pond water lilies looks really amazing. Depending on the size of your garden you can install the pond you desire. The size and the feature will determine the price, mini ponds can be purchased from Amazon, or if you desire to go smaller then another feature could be to add a bird bath. A bird bath especially if the water is moving will really get the attention of wildlife to take a bath or a drink of water.
5. A Water Source
Bright colorful flowers will get the attention of bees so when they pay your wildlife garden a visit you want to make sure they are taken care of as well, bees need water to drink so installing a water source will help them greatly, provide a tray or a shallow bowl of water, place a few rocks in the bowl or tray for bees as support or if, in the event they fall in the water, they can use the rocks to climb out. The bowl or tray can be placed at the base of flowering plants.
6. Providing a Food Source
Adding a bird feeder is a great way to ensure that you’re feathered friends won’t go hungry in the event food is scares. Make sure that bird feeders are high so that predators cannot cause harm to birds. The feeders can be hung from a branch or other tall structure, some bird foods that can be purchased are white proso millet, sunflower, shelled and crack corn, safflower, peanuts, nyjer or thistle, flax, red millet, golden millet, white proso millet, etc…
Other Features
Other features that can be added are a birdhouse and a bug hotel for your wildlife friends.
The final word on how to encourage wildlife into your garden
Turning your backyard into a garden for wildlife is that easy, these garden types are really amazing with their rewards, there is so many wildlife that is looking for shelter, food, a safe haven, and a place to raise their young. Give nature a helping hand by creating a wildlife garden that will encourage biodiversity in our ecosystem as we make our wildlife friends feel right at home.
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About the author
Norman loves being in the garden, both at home and for his job....
he is 'Natures Little helper' being outdoors, growing his vegetables and flowers from an early age.
Now having spent over 22 years in the profession he want to give some of his knowledge to others...
his vast array of hints and tips you will find scattered over this site will help you no end growing plants in your garden.
Hi Norman,
I am so happy to read this helpful post.
As a believer in environmental restoration, attracting bees to the backyard is one of my cherished dreams. The world is losing the bee population, which is a significant concern. The bee population is extinct due to toxin pesticide sprays used to protect crops from insects. It could be as easy as having fragrant flowers like mustard flowers, where you get bees, produce mustard seeds to use as paste, and press them into the oil. Using crop-producing sunflowers, pumpkin flowers, and similar thoughtful plantations will benefit the silently suffering earth and mankind. Growing a rose is easy. Having some bushes can get you flowers and attract bees. Who doesn’t like roses?
The bird is hungry; we all see it, and having shelter with feed will give the genuine pleasure of feeding the needy and helping them grow their young kids. I see several nests in my dogwood plant and cherry plant. Hearing their noise is thrilling. I care for those little things, living with a healthy mind.
Having water and a small pond in your backyard adds serenity and helps to attract creatures. What a fulfillment of life when someone drinks when thirsty. In the worst case, keeping a pot of water in a relatively flat dish is affordable. I guess this will work.
Thank you for this remarkable post.
Thank you for commenting, I am so happy to help!
Hi Norman, thank you for the informative post. I have always loved gardening so I love learning more about it. Generally I stick with my perennial plants now as they less work, though many of your items listed would not need tending either.
I am all for the encouragement of wildlife with the gardens and plants save one smallish issue. Where I live we have a lot of deer and they LOVE those juicy plants! Any suggestions of plants that may deter them? I have tried dog hair and that helps keep the rabbits out, but does nothing for the deer.
Again, thank you for your post! Keep on digging!
Hello Chris, thanks so much for stopping by and commenting, plants such as lavender, daffodil, foxglove, rosemary, beebalms etc… will repel deers. Hope this helps.