Gardening for Wildlife in Your Yard

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To attract wildlife to your yard, you need to provide food, shelter and water for wildlife. Different types of wildlife have these needs met in different ways. For instance, provide shelter with bird houses to attract birds. Small mammals like chipmunks would prefer you provided a brush pile. The greater the variety of these elements you offer in your yard, the more diverse your wildlife visitors will be.

Planning Your Backyard Habitat

While gardening for wildlife tends to reduce your lawn area, your backyard doesn't have to become completely wild. A small lawn area can provide a sunny spot to maintain gardens that will attract butterflies and hummingbirds. Then in addition to the lawn, the ground around your property can be covered with natural pine straw, leaf litter and/or bark.

Providing Food Sources:

Be sure to offer many different types of wildlife feeders. Rather than relying on those feeders exclusively, you should also provide a constant source of food by planting shrubs, vines and trees that produce edible nuts, seeds or berries. Birdfeeders are often used to supplement the winter diet of birds. For general feeding, most species will eat black sunflower seed. Ground feeders like doves are partial to a scattering of cracked corn.

Providing Water Sources:
Offer a clean, dependable water source through all four seasons. A birdbath or garden pond will do, as long as there are shallow spots that give birds and small mammals a safe foothold. Be sure to protect your visitors from predators - place your water source at least 15 feet from shrubbery that could harbor neighborhood cats.

Providing Shelter:

Wildlife relies on shelter for protection from the weather and predators. Low shrubbery makes an effective shelter, including those plants you provided as food sources. Dense shrubbery can provide a home to ground-nesting birds such as doves and thrushes as well as small mammals like rabbits. You can also construct a brush pile from dead branches to provide shelter for small critters like chipmunks. Stone piles provide a home for garden snakes, toads and lizards; all of which help to control insect populations. Also, consider leaving one or two dead trees standing, to attract cavity-nesters such as woodpeckers.