How to Attract Wildlife to Your Backyard

Author Ken Zmijewski, Posted December 28, 2012

There is something amazing about a garden that has been laid out by a garden design or landscape design professional, as the garden will be laid out as professionally as possible. However, you will find that getting wildlife to come to your garden will actually be possible, and you will be able to enjoy the beauty of the local creatures. If you want to attract wildlife to your backyard, here are some things that you or your landscaper can try:
 
If you want to get hummingbirds and butterflies to your garden, make sure that there are a lot of colorful flowers that have a sweet scent. These sweet scented flowers will attract these creatures, who love the sweet nectar of the plants. You will need to make sure that there’s plenty of shade as well as sun, as the birds and butterflies want to spend time cooling off in the shade as well as warming up in the sun.
 
Use low bushes and shrubs to provide smaller animals with a home. The thicker bushes and scrubs will not only provide them with protection from the sun and the rain, but you may find that they can actually grow berries and smaller fruits that will provide the animals with a source of food. You can attract not only animals with thick berry bushes, but you can even attract cardinals, songbirds, and other birds that like the sweet berries.
 
Set up a pond in your backyard if you want to attract creatures, as the handy water source will ensure that small animals come to your pond to drink. You will need to be sure that the water is constantly moving in order to keep the mosquitoes away, but you can put some lily pads and other water plants if you want to get frogs to live there. You can put fish and turtles in the pond, and water plants will provide a fresh source of oxygen for these creatures.
 
Make your own compost heap, as it will serve two purposes:

• It will provide you with high quality compost to use in your garden, and
• It will ensure that animals will have a source of fresh organic food (one human’s trash is an animal’s food source).

 
You can attract raccoons, squirrels, and hedgehogs, as they tend to be scavengers. Just make sure that your compost pile is far away from your home and garden, as the smell will be very strong. You should also make sure to place the pile outside of your property fence, as you don’t want the animals coming into your vegetable or flower garden.
 
Build a birdhouse and place it in your backyard. When the birds find that they have a home they can move into, you will find that they will be more attracted to your backyard – especially if you provide them with a bird bath and a bird feeder to give them fresh water and food. You can also trim the branches of your trees in order to provide the birds with an easy place to build their nest.
 
Plant flowers and vegetables that will be the food for the animals that you want to attract to your yard. If there is a food source all year long, the animals will always come back to your yard.