April 2010 - Backyard Habitats

This month's green tip deals with how to create a wildlife habitat in your own back yard, regardless of how big or small it might be. One way to do this is to follow the guidelines provided by the National Wildlife Federation as part of their Certified Wildlife Habitat Program.

The 5 main components of a Certified Wildlife Habitat are:

Provide Food for Wildlife
Easy - To start you can simply get a bird feeder.
Harder - As you think about planting new plants try and pick ones that are native to our area and provide food (nectar, pollen, berries, seeds and nuts)
Information on Natives:
A Species list from Marvin Organic Gardens
Habitats Native Plant Nursery

Supply Water for Wildlife
Easy - Install a birdbath (Be sure to change the water 2-3 times per week during warm weather when mosquitoes are breeding)
Harder - Think about areas of your yard where you can put in a water garden/pond. Create a butterfly puddling area by allowing shallow puddles to form in your garden or by burying a shallow bucket to its rim, filling it with gravel, and then pouring water or stale beer in until it forms a shallow puddle at the top. Male butterflies in particular will be attracted as they are seeking minerals and salts as part of the mating cycle.

Create Cover for Wildlife
Easy - Buy a roosting box or keep a pile of brush and logs on the property.
Harder - Convert a portion of your yard to meadow or thicket.

Provide a Place to Raise Young
This one is easy in that it is almost exactly the same as the previous step but has the additional step of providing host plants for caterpillars

Let Your Garden Go Green
Easy - Reduce lawn areas. Every year mow a little less grass and let the yard go wild!
Harder - Remove non-native and invasive species replacing them with native species. Depending on the size of your property this can take a lot of work.