Wildlife Tips

 

We all strive to have beautiful gardens but we don't always notice or appreciate

the wildlife in our gardens. Here are a few tips to help the wildlife.

               

                  

                                                                                                        

1. Minimize rototilling. 

Sometimes tilling is necessary. When I moved into my new house the garden was a neglected space with soil as hard as a nutshell. We rototilled because it would require enormous time and labor commitment to hand turn and break the soil. However, once you till and add organic matter life begins to grow in the soil. From this point forward tilling would do more harm than good.

 

2. Be careful when working in your garden. 

When you encourage wildlife it is inevitable that you will come across nests or resting animals when you do yard work. These are all good sign of life in your garden and a healthy ecosystem. Try not to disturb the creatures inhabiting your garden and work around them.

 

3. Do not leave your lights on unless absolutely necessary.

Lights attract insects that should be feeding or mating. Many kinds of insects are disappearing, in part due to the prevalence of man-made night light.

   4. Never use a bug zapper.

   These electrical devices are nonselective, attracting and killing numerous kinds of insects, 

   both good and bad.

 

   5. Always use white sugar to prepare hummingbird food.

 

Never use honey, brown sugar, or artificial sweeteners (including Splenda). A mixture made with white sugar closely resembles the naturally occurring nectar in flowers. Mixtures made with the other ingredients can kill butterflies.

 

6. Leave spiderwebs alone.

A spiderweb is a work of art that is much more attractive than sticky trap for reducing insect populations. Using pesticides to kill insects removes links from food chain. A spider that eats insects becomes food for a bird, which might serve as food for a snake, which could be caught by a hawk.

 

7. Allow mushrooms to grow in your lawn or mulch.

Mushrooms enrich the soil and keep predator-prey relationship working to your benefit. They tell you that there is a dead plant or animal matter in the environment that needs to be broken down and recycled. They also serve as food for numerous organisms.

8. Provide water for wildlife.

No matter where you live, providing a water source in your yard will bring in wildlife that

you might not otherwise see. For example, many migratory birds are mostly insect eater. Therefore, even if they nest around your house during the warmer months, you may not catch a glimpse of them because they do not usually visit feeders.