How to Attract Beneficial Animals to Your Garden
Work out which animals are friendly to your garden and which are pests., Grow plants that attract birds., Grow plants that attract butterflies., Grow plants that attract bees., Grow plants that attract ladybugs., Attract more frogs to your garden...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Work out which animals are friendly to your garden and which are pests.
This may vary depending on what region you live in.
It will also depend on the size of your yard and garden, and whether or not you have pets and other animals on your property.
Some animals, like earthworms and bees, actively improve your garden.
Some, like butterflies, help your garden by looking pretty and not damaging it in the process.
Some, like ladybugs, bats, spiders, and cats, eat or scare away others before they eat your garden.
Not everything helpful to your garden should be encouraged into close contact with people, particularly children.
You probably won't want a bee colony right by your house (but a beekeeper might volunteer to take it).
Bigger animals might attack if too close, particularly if startled, even if you think they're tame.
Helpful animals include certain insects such as ladybugs and bees, insect-eating birds, earthworms (not in all places though), spiders (but beware of creating conditions, like woodpiles, particularly desirable to the few that can be dangerous), frogs, lizards, etc.
Animals that tend to be pests are those that have destructive habits and include rabbits, deer, mice, mosquitoes, squirrels, flies, aphids, moles, raccoons, possums, starlings, etc.
However, it is really important to balance your sense of "pest" with the need to conserve local biodiversity and to be kind to fellow species.
A mouse or a deer may be a pest if you gather many soft plants for it to eat.
In its natural environment, including wilder parts of your yard, it can nibble down overgrown plants that would choke out a beautiful variety of species.
Appreciate animals in their native regions as interesting, important parts of the web of life. -
Step 2: Grow plants that attract birds.
Having more birds in your garden is beneficial for you because birds eat pest insects.
In addition, people love watching birds set up homes, feed in, and fly around their own garden space, their intrinsic value being their beauty.
Attracting birds to your garden will depend on the type of birds, as they'll all have their individual preferences, such as humming birds loving red flowers.
Do research on the birds on your area and their preferences before purchasing and planting their favorite plants.
Read How to attract birds to your garden for more ideas. , Butterflies are also attractive and most people are more than happy to have their garden filled with butterflies.
Butterflies love a range of flowering plants, including buddleia, also known as the butterfly bush.
Read How to create a butterfly garden and How to attract butterflies for more ideas. , Bees are the ultimate pollinators, vital to keep your garden, vegetables, and fruits growing strong.
Attracting more of them to the garden makes common sense.
Have many flowering plants in your garden, including lavender, to attract bees.
Read How to attract honey bees for some more ideas. , Ladybugs feed on aphids and are excellent to have around your roses and other plants that aphids enjoy sucking the life out of.
Ladybugs like the plant yarrow.
Read How to build a ladybug house for more ideas. , Frogs eat insect larvae and insects, helping keep down the insect population; they are also excellent indicators of the health of your garden.
Help make a suitable environment for them by providing a well cared for pond or by keeping a local stream clear of debris and pollution. , Lizards eat a range of insects and they're enjoyable to watch as they sun themselves in the garden.
Provide lots of hiding spaces for them by adding large rocks and nooks and crannies in your garden. , There are a number of food solutions that you can produce for animals, especially during the leaner months of winter.
Remember that it's important to feed the right food, and to not overdo the feeding.
Some suggestions include:
How to make a bird feeder How to feed butterflies Leaving berries on the bottom of bushes for local ground-feeding wildlife to enjoy. , What you may have considered a pest animal may turn out to be something you've allowed to happen, such as not using adequate fencing, planting the wrong plants, or leaving your garden too open, etc.
If you can make the fixes and let wildlife be, then every being is better off for the space to live and be.
Remove invasive plant species from your garden.
Often these are a cause of attracting unwanted animals and their further spread harms the local biodiversity. -
Step 3: Grow plants that attract butterflies.
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Step 4: Grow plants that attract bees.
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Step 5: Grow plants that attract ladybugs.
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Step 6: Attract more frogs to your garden.
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Step 7: Attract lizards to your garden.
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Step 8: Make food for the friendly animals.
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Step 9: Spend time learning about the interactions of animals in your garden.
Detailed Guide
This may vary depending on what region you live in.
It will also depend on the size of your yard and garden, and whether or not you have pets and other animals on your property.
Some animals, like earthworms and bees, actively improve your garden.
Some, like butterflies, help your garden by looking pretty and not damaging it in the process.
Some, like ladybugs, bats, spiders, and cats, eat or scare away others before they eat your garden.
Not everything helpful to your garden should be encouraged into close contact with people, particularly children.
You probably won't want a bee colony right by your house (but a beekeeper might volunteer to take it).
Bigger animals might attack if too close, particularly if startled, even if you think they're tame.
Helpful animals include certain insects such as ladybugs and bees, insect-eating birds, earthworms (not in all places though), spiders (but beware of creating conditions, like woodpiles, particularly desirable to the few that can be dangerous), frogs, lizards, etc.
Animals that tend to be pests are those that have destructive habits and include rabbits, deer, mice, mosquitoes, squirrels, flies, aphids, moles, raccoons, possums, starlings, etc.
However, it is really important to balance your sense of "pest" with the need to conserve local biodiversity and to be kind to fellow species.
A mouse or a deer may be a pest if you gather many soft plants for it to eat.
In its natural environment, including wilder parts of your yard, it can nibble down overgrown plants that would choke out a beautiful variety of species.
Appreciate animals in their native regions as interesting, important parts of the web of life.
Having more birds in your garden is beneficial for you because birds eat pest insects.
In addition, people love watching birds set up homes, feed in, and fly around their own garden space, their intrinsic value being their beauty.
Attracting birds to your garden will depend on the type of birds, as they'll all have their individual preferences, such as humming birds loving red flowers.
Do research on the birds on your area and their preferences before purchasing and planting their favorite plants.
Read How to attract birds to your garden for more ideas. , Butterflies are also attractive and most people are more than happy to have their garden filled with butterflies.
Butterflies love a range of flowering plants, including buddleia, also known as the butterfly bush.
Read How to create a butterfly garden and How to attract butterflies for more ideas. , Bees are the ultimate pollinators, vital to keep your garden, vegetables, and fruits growing strong.
Attracting more of them to the garden makes common sense.
Have many flowering plants in your garden, including lavender, to attract bees.
Read How to attract honey bees for some more ideas. , Ladybugs feed on aphids and are excellent to have around your roses and other plants that aphids enjoy sucking the life out of.
Ladybugs like the plant yarrow.
Read How to build a ladybug house for more ideas. , Frogs eat insect larvae and insects, helping keep down the insect population; they are also excellent indicators of the health of your garden.
Help make a suitable environment for them by providing a well cared for pond or by keeping a local stream clear of debris and pollution. , Lizards eat a range of insects and they're enjoyable to watch as they sun themselves in the garden.
Provide lots of hiding spaces for them by adding large rocks and nooks and crannies in your garden. , There are a number of food solutions that you can produce for animals, especially during the leaner months of winter.
Remember that it's important to feed the right food, and to not overdo the feeding.
Some suggestions include:
How to make a bird feeder How to feed butterflies Leaving berries on the bottom of bushes for local ground-feeding wildlife to enjoy. , What you may have considered a pest animal may turn out to be something you've allowed to happen, such as not using adequate fencing, planting the wrong plants, or leaving your garden too open, etc.
If you can make the fixes and let wildlife be, then every being is better off for the space to live and be.
Remove invasive plant species from your garden.
Often these are a cause of attracting unwanted animals and their further spread harms the local biodiversity.
About the Author
Zachary Perez
Professional writer focused on creating easy-to-follow organization tutorials.
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