Introduction
Gardening is one of the great joys that comes with the privilege of owning a home with a large backyard. If you need to build a few new garden beds, you can search for “topsoil near me” and buy some from the nearest store. While most people try to grow abundant flowers, veggies, and fruits in the garden, those gardens lack wildlife. Let’s change that by checking out a few ways of attracting wildlife to your garden.
The Details
- Don’t dig – When you till or dig the soil in your garden, you kill off a lot of worms and larvae growing in it. Those tiny wrigglers are an essential part of the delicate ecosystem in your garden and are extremely beneficial to your crops. Some of them even have a symbiotic relationship with some plants. However, they are also very necessary for inviting wildlife into your garden.
That’s why it’s important to not disturb the soil and allow those worms and larvae to thrive. Instead of digging into the soil, lay out compost over the soil and encourage those wrigglers to thrive in them while nourishing the soil simultaneously. Those worms also invite a lot of local birds like robins and blackbirds to make your garden livelier.
- Help out pollinators – There are all kinds of species that people plant in their garden for feeding honeybees and butterflies. However, there’s a lot more you can do for all kinds of pollinators in your region. Instead of having one or two species of flowering plants, get a bunch of nectar-rich species that can cater to different types of pollinators. Focus on butterflies that already visit your garden and put your energy into growing an environment that encourages their numbers instead of trying to find other species.
To do that, you need to think about long-term sustainability. That means the nectar-rich plants don’t just need to provide food for butterflies but should also be a preferred nesting space for them to lay down their larvae. You can also get plants that attract different types of wild bees instead of the common honeybee.
When people talk about bee extinction, they are referring to wild bees. Honeybees are abundant and aren’t efficient at their tasks. Instead, it’s the wild bees who are highly efficient pollinators since they focus on a few plants instead of targeting everything in the vicinity. When you provide food and a home for wild bees, you do yourself and the environment a favor.
- Corridors – If you have open areas and bare ground in your garden, you can plant them with the right species to create a thick cover. This kind of landscape change allows newts, frogs and worms to move around since they can do so without being spotted by predators. Whether you have a marshy garden, glades, or flowerbeds, planting different types of species that create a cover helps out those little jumpers and crawlers and constantly supply wildflowers to pollinators throughout the year.
- Feed and nest birds – Bird feeders have become common over the years. However, without the right measures, those feeders become mere decoration. You need to make sure that your bird feeders are efficient and are doing their job of attracting a wide variety of birds to your garden.
Instead of just filling the feeders with the same types of seeds, keep it interesting and mix up different types of food. You can also have multiple feeders at different parts of the garden to attract a mix of varied species. To attract hummingbirds, keep a feeder full of sugar water. For bug-eating birds like thrashers and bluebirds, you can fill up the feeder with mealworms. While birds enjoy seeds, a varied mix of foods maximizes the diversity that’s attracted to your garden.
Apart from feeding the birds, you can also create nests for them to push one step further towards creating your own little ecosystem. If there are no trees or hedges that encourage birds to build nests, you can put up nest boxes in different parts of the garden. Make sure to clean out the nest box at regular intervals so that the birds are incentivized to return to that nest.
- Ponds – If there’s enough space, consider adding a water body to your garden. Water bodies like ponds promote a lot of diversity in your garden. However, if you want the pond to attract wildlife, you’ll need to commit. A shallow no-maintenance pond by the patio would not work. You’ll need to create a real pond with a depth of at least 2 feet for attracting news and dragonflies. If the pool is too shallow, only tadpoles will thrive in it.
- Fence gap – If you want wildlife to thrive in your garden, you’ll need to provide proper access points. While birds and flying pollinators can enter your garden easily, land critters won’t be able to do the same. That’s why you’ll need to leave a small gap at the bottom of your fence to allow a smooth flow of traffic. The gap should be large enough to allow in hedgehogs and news, yet small enough to keep out large predators and annoying pests. A fence gap also allows wildlife to move around from one plot to another and links all habitats together.
- Grow natives – When you grow native plants and groundcovers, they aren’t just easy to maintain, but also invite all kinds of wildlife that depend on them for food and shelter. Local wildlife has evolved along with the local plants, trees, and hedges and often have a symbiotic relationship with each other.
Conclusion
When you successfully invite wildlife into your garden, it brings you a different kind of sense of accomplishment and joy. The feeling is very different from growing trees and plants. Use the above-mentioned tips to invite wildlife and birth a tiny ecosystem at the back of your home. If you need to buy topsoil for any of your landscaping projects, you can search for “topsoil near me” and buy some from a store nearby.
You’re sure to find the ideal pot to showcase your plants. Shop now for a seamless shopping experience and easy delivery options. Get ready to bring your green thumb to the next level with Koop NZ.
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