One of the most enjoyable yard activities is watching the local wildlife scurry across your grass or trees. Something about it draws the eye and can literally make your yard come alive. In this post, let’s discuss the benefits and drawbacks to actively hosting wildlife through your yard. Then, we’ll investigate ways to attract critters of all varieties.
The benefits of wildlife can be plentiful. Not only can they be fun to watch, they also can benefit the plants in your yard, though this varies by the animal. Bees and butterflies pollinate your flowers and vegetable, making your garden more plentiful and vigorous. Additionally, if you have kids, they’ll love having creatures to chase and watch. Having animals in the yard can be a great way to draw them outside and away from the TV.
There are, of course, down sides to a lot of wildlife in your yard. Some, like rabbits, will eat your hard-earned crops. Others may be that they make your yard unkempt or impose unfavorable creatures on your neighbors as well. A wildlife-oriented yard isn’t for everyone because of the negatives.
But let’s say you want to go ahead and do it. Where do you start attracting them? Let’s go through a few of the common animals to explore what methods you can employ to get them into your yard.
First up, we have bees. For bees, you need to provide a place for them to make their hive. This means leaving an open spot of dirt for them, because, yes, they don’t just make honeycombs to live in! Also, grow lavender and buddleia to attract them to your yard. The nectar provided by these flowers gives the bees a source of sustenance for them to stick around.
Next, let’s think about how to get birds in your trees. A good place to start is with the obvious, manufactured tricks like bird feeders, bird houses, and bird baths. However, if you go beyond them, you can increase the appeal of your yard to them. Try planting ivy and bushes for birds to nest in. Also, trees with small berries can be a great source of food for them.
But maybe you want some more unusual animals visiting – maybe even a hedgehog! Hedgehogs, of course, don’t reside everywhere in the US, but if you’re lucky enough to be in a place they do, we have the ways you can attract and keep one. First off, you have to allow the hedgehog into the yard. This requires opening up a space in your fence for it to come through. Next, make a place for it to stay. An attractive place for hedgehogs includes a partially decaying log with plenty of leaves. Both of these encourage bugs to come, providing food for your hedgehog. It’ll also need a source of fresh water, and giving it bushes to hide in can encourage it to stick around, no matter who’s out and what the weather is.
Check out this awesome interactive map of a yard to see how you can attract other animals to your yard. Enjoy all the animals scurrying about!
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