In a climate-friendly garden, you plant strategically to attract natural predators to take care of the pests you don’t want in your garden. Here are some ways you can work toward attracting predators to help care for your garden naturally. Doing this means you don’t need to use chemical pesticides or unnatural practices to keep a healthy garden.
1. Plant Trees, Hedges and Shrubs – Planting a variety of trees and shrubs in many different sizes and types will provide food for birds, bees, and other wildlife that are beneficial for your garden. Providing nesting sites for many different types of animals is good for the ecology of your garden.
2. Keep the Deadwood – Dying trees or parts of a dying tree have a big use to gardeners. They are habitats for organisms that keep your garden ecosystem healthy. Fungi, mosses, and insects will attract birds to them who will eat them. They are also habitats for snakes and other animals, so locate them strategically. Don’t worry; garden snakes are good because they eat rats and small mammals that will eat the food from your garden.
3. Create Water Features – Creating water features can also bring wildlife to your garden, such as frogs. Ensure that your water features are water catchment systems. Save rain water by investing in containers to catch the water. You can also save your gray water from your washer or shower if you ensure that you use the right types of soaps and detergents that are safe.
4. Keep Some Grass Long – Plant longer grasses in some areas of your lawn. It provides cover for small animals, reptiles, and caterpillars. If you leave some of your grass uncut throughout the year, alternating the areas every couple of years to avoid the grass from becoming too coarse, you’ll create plenty of places for these animals to be where they help not harm your garden.
5. Plant Variety – It’s important to plant a diversity of different types of plants that are native to your area, and the right plants for the climate of your area. You can often discover many varieties at locally owned garden centers as opposed to chain garden centers. Doing so will help cut down on pests.
6. Encourage Wildflowers – Don’t automatically get rid of all wildflowers as “weeds”. Some of them are beautiful and they can be very valuable to improve the ecology of your garden. They also provide food for insects and butterflies which can encourage pollination of your plants but less eating of your plants. Nettles are especially helpful for providing a breeding area for butterflies.
7. Put Up Bird Houses and Nesting Boxes – If you’d like more birds in your garden, you can put up nesting boxes on walls, in fences and in trees facing the right way to provide shelter for birds. Put them up at least six to seven feet off the ground to keep them protected. Be sure to clean these boxes each year when the birds have left the boxes to cut down on parasites.
The beautiful thing about climate-friendly gardening practices is that they naturally attract just the right wildlife to your garden, helping you protect against disease and pests naturally without chemicals and fuel-based pesticides.