Landscaping for Backyard Wildlife

Urban sprawl is rapidly advancing across the United States. Dense forests and vast prairies are being broken up, deforested and developed in a patchwork of neighborhoods and shopping malls, cutting animals off from hunting grounds, breeding areas and protective habitats. The grass lawns, streets and parking lots that are resurrected in their place do little to provide any of these important functions to local wildlife populations threatened by urban or suburbanization, creating a significant risk for entire species of wild animals.

Urbanization is a problem for the environment. However, there is a solution. Urbanization does not have to mean an “us or them” proposition between humans and wildlife. The two can co-exist, bridging the patchwork of neighborhoods to existing wildscape areas by providing basic elements to benefit both wildlife and the neighborhood; food, a water source, nesting sites and a place to raise young.

Creating a backyard wildlife habitat is a simple matter of devoting time to research. A homeowner must simply choose and plant a variety of native plants, install a water source such as a birdbath, a puddling area or a pond or stream, and provide trees, bushes and shrubbery for food, shelter and nesting sites. Nesting boxes can also be installed for butterflies and birds to encourage spring nesting. Even apartment dwellers can help wildlife by creating small habitats on balconies or rooftops. A small space can have a few pots of colorful flowers which provide beneficial nesting sites, larval host plants and nectar next to a small saucer with moist mud to create a puddling area for butterflies.