How to attract beneficial nature to your garden
6th Jun '19 • By Service.com.au
What comes to your mind when you think of a garden? Trees, plants, and flowers. But what’s the one thing that truly makes your garden come to life? Nature.
To be more specific, it's little birds, animals, and insects that make your garden their home. If you want to attract nature to your beautiful garden and make it your own version of a wildlife sanctuary, here are a few easy tips to follow.
1. Include native plants
Native trees provide a nesting ground for a number of wild creatures. They can attract both food and shelter for many kinds of small wild life, such as insects, birds, possums and butterflies.
Other kinds of shrubby plant growth with different varieties of flowers, is an open invitation and attraction to nature. “In the lead-up to the warmer months of the year, is a great time to prep your garden to encouraging wildlife to spend more time in your outdoor area”, explains Aaron from Tick Safe.
Some of the more common plants to consider for your wildlife garden are sunflowers, lavender, thyme and honeysuckle. Other than these, fruit bearing trees are the easiest way to get nature to pay a visit. Get in touch with a local Gardener to find out which plants will suit your garden. Do remember, though, that your visitors don't come with table manners and can leave a mess. This includes a number of fruit bats and cockatoos who seem to delight in leaving as many half eaten mangoes as possible!
2. Provide food and water
Leaving food and water out for birds, animals and insects, is a great way to get their attention and draw them to your yard. A birdbath and bird feeder is the perfect way to attract the right type of animals. The best thing about bird feeders, is that they stop mice and rats from climbing up and reaching the basin.
Don’t dismay if animals don’t appear immediately. By keeping the food out and replacing it when necessary, in time you’ll have a beautiful display of birds to watch and enjoy their behaviour.
3. Keep pets inside
Pets will scare away wildlife so it’s best to keep them indoors. Pets such as cats are predators by nature and have the instinct to hunt at night. They will attack and scare away birds and other small animals.
Dogs might pose a threat too, so it’s wise to keep all kinds of domestic pets separate from the animals you're trying to attract.
4. Build a pond
Ponds are a great way to encourage all kinds of nature to make a stop at your garden, especially when building a new home. This is a great feature combined with other new homeowner backyard inspiration ideas. They look great and add just the right kind of aesthetics. It will be a favourite for birds to take a dip and cool off. Frogs and newts will make their way in as well.
You can get some fish for your pond to complete your own little ecosystem. “It’s important to remember that encouraging wildlife into the garden will also increase the prevalence of paralysis ticks. If you plan to install a pond, it’s essential to also introduce fish or frogs to reduce mosquitoes breeding, otherwise a pump installation is essential to keep the water moving. Your other option is to treat the pond with a larvicide product that will prevent wriggling mosquito larvae from developing into adult mosquitoes”, warns Aaron from Tick Safe.
5. Install a birdhouse
You can also encourage birds to your home by building a birdhouse, which is a wonderful way create your dream small garden. Birdhouses provide a safe haven for birds to nest. However, ensure that your birdhouse is the right size for the nest of the kinds of birds you are trying to attract.
Different birds prefer certain types of birdhouses; therefore, the simplest way to go about this would be to study and identify the different kinds of birds that you want to pay a visit.
This allows you to design a nice, comfy home for them, exactly to their liking. Don't be afraid to use bright colours as these will also attract.
It will help you to attract birds if you have a number of bird feeders nearby, and the actual birdhouse is at a height that is bird-friendly. Also, after nesting it’s important to clean it out; you’re not doing a bird any favours by leaving old nests in the entrance. They will simply not turn up!
We have given you a number of things above that will attract all kinds of nature to your garden. The types of nature that you will attract will surprise you. Don't be surprised to have visitors like sugar gliders and possums pay you a visit each evening for a little snack!
Need a professional Gardener to help design the perfect yard?
Further reading:
The best gardening trends
How much does it cost to install instant turf? | cost guide
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6 tips to create a Balinese inspired garden