Whether for their own pleasure or for the benefit of the planet, many people are getting into gardening for wildlife. Setting up an entire wildlife refuge on your property might sound like a job best left to professionals, but an inspection of your yard may reveal that only a few simple changes are needed to make your yard more attractive to wildlife. All you need to supply are four basic elements: food, water, cover, and nesting sites.

Food
The backbone of your wildlife food supply should be plants - preferably native plants - with high food value. This includes trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants that supply berries, nuts, seeds, nectar, pollen, and forage. Fruit-eating birds are attracted by berry-bearing shrubs such as serviceberry and elderberry. Seed-eating birds appreciate seed heads from annual flowers such as marigolds, sunflowers, and cosmos. Hummingbirds seek red or orange flowers that yield abundant nectar, including hummingbird mint (Agastache), red salvia, and fuchsias. Butterflies are attracted to flat, nectar-bearing flowers, especially those in the aster family. You'll get even more butterflies if you supply food plants for their larvae, especially members of the aster and carrot families. Use the internet to find out what butterflies are native to your area and what kinds of plants they use. Honey bees and native bees, so essential for pollination in the garden, are attracted by scented flowers that yield abundant nectar and pollen, so be sure to plant a variety of flowers in and around the vegetable patch to assure good pollination of your crops.

Supplemental feeders add value to your yard as well. Look for bird feeders designed to hold a variety of seeds, such as black sunflower seeds for many birds, suet cakes for winter birds, or niger seeds for finches in the summer. Avoid cheap bird seed mixes that contain mostly seeds that wild birds don't like. Examine the design of the feeder to be sure it has good drainage; otherwise moisture will build up and cause the seeds to mold. Drill extra drainage holes in the bottom of feeders with wooden seed platforms. Wood tends to swell when it is wet, and small drainage holes will close up.

Hummingbird feeders can be filled with a syrup consisting of 1 part sugar to 4 parts water. Avoid food coloring, which may be harmful to birds. Don't use honey, either, which can contain mold spores. And certainly don't use artificial sweeteners which have no food value at all. Natural flower nectar contains

• 1
• 2
• 3
• next page >>

---

Add your voice

Know something about How to attract wildlife in your garden?
We want to hear your view. Write now!