Habitat Basics
Traditional habitats used by wildlife for millennia are rapidly disappearing due to the loss of habitat to sprawl or development, or by the fragmentation or degradation of the habitat that remains. This leads to two problems:
First, there is much less habitat for resident birds, butterflies and other creatures to use in their traditional home areas.
Second, much of the land along established migration routes do not provide the food, water, and cover that birds, butterflies, and other wildlife needs during their long migration journey. Without adequate "refueling" opportunities - stopover habitats - many of these creatures will reach their destination in a weakened condition - or will not make it at all.
A backyard habitat provides the same kinds of things for wildlife that people need in their own "habitat": food, water, cover, and a place to raise young in a healthy environment. In addition, certain sustainable gardening practices are important. These requirements can be met even in small spaces with careful planning.
The first thing people always say is that this kind of gardening must be a lot of work. Isn't it funny that they never say that about maintaining a lawn? Although eliminating most all of my lawn in one season and converting to planting beds was a bit of work, the overall maintenance isn't - I'm not a slave to my yard and if a plant can't survive pretty much on its own, it just dies out.
If you're thinking that gardening is too much work it might be because you're used to thinking of gardening as a series of chores: fertilizing, choosing and applying pesticides, keeping everything "neat," watering things all the time, and cutting dead plants down and disposing of them in the fall. Most of this comes from trying to grow things that were never meant to grow in your area (non-native, exotic plants) or growing things that aren't suitable for your own unique garden conditions. Some of it also comes from the expectation that your garden has to be as neat as your living room, constantly in bloom, and with each plant a vision of perfection. Gardening becomes just one more thing on your To Do list. It doesn't have to be this way!
I have always been a gardener, and so I have quite a lot of different plant material covering much of my yard. Don't let this scare you off if you don't share my gardening passion! You can provide a healthy, interesting habitat just by following a few basic principles and providing the habitat basics of food, water, cover, and a place to raise young.
Here's an article I wrote (go to page 8) on habitat basics. (Note: It's a large .pdf file)
Habitat Express - Quick and Easy Ways to Get Started
But even if you aren't ready to create a certifiable wildlife habitat that provides all of these habitat basics, remember: "First, do no harm". You can make your yard a better place for wildlife by just doing three simple things:
- Reduce, or preferably eliminate, your use of pesticides, herbicides, and all the other "cide"s. (Remember "-cide" is a Latin suffix meaning "kill.") Accept some less-than-perfect flowers, leaves, and lawn. Is perfection worth risking our health, killing the pollinators that help provide our food, and poisoning our planet? This is especially important for households with kids or pets, or for households next to people with kids or pets, or for households who invite people with kids or pets to their house, or . . . In other words, for everyone who cares about having a healthy planet now and for future generations! If you could do only one thing in your yard, this would be it!
- Do NOT plant non-native invasive plants and remove any that are already in your yard. Invasive plants - some of which are still commonly sold in garden centers - spread to our natural areas, changing their character and displacing the native plants with which our native creatures evolved. It's a huge, multi-billion dollar a year problem - bad for wildlife and bad for people! Find out what plants are invasive in our region ....
- Cut your lawn - in half! Lawn has almost no habitat value. It's just one step above blacktop. It offers no food, shelter, or places to raise young - and it requires water that could better be used for something else. Besides, people in their quest for the perfect lawn often apply harmful pesticides, herbicides, and chemical fertilizers. What's more, power lawnmowers are even more polluting than cars. You can replace part of the lawn with trees, bushes, other plants, or even just ground cover. Even groundcover is better than a neatly trimmed lawn. Besides, it's much more interesting to look at, and some have beautiful flowers as a bonus. Use natural lawn care methods to care for the lawn you have left.
Instead of "neat and tidy," go for "controlled wildness" which has much more habitat value. A neat border around the edges goes a long way toward making your yard attractive. And if neighborhood sensibilities aren't an issue, just go for wild!
