Unleash the Wild - Bring Nature Home

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 Have you ever considered that your garden is a wildlife preserve and although our actions seem small, they actually make a difference yard by yard for better or worse.    In this term, I would like all of us to pay more attention to what we do in our yards and gardens and to integrate ways to help provide the insects, birds, and animals with the habitat that they need to thrive and live alongside us. We need biodiversity in our world. 

Small gardening practices can make a difference. The gentle bumble bee queens need to find a place in the soil under leaf litter to overwinter - so add organic materials to the top of your soil as mulch. Insects that prey on garden pests also need to find safe places. 

Fresh water for insects, birds, bats, frogs, and other critters is a requirement for survival. 

Of course, places for birds to nest in trees and shrubs or nest boxes of the correct design are helpful to bring these future parents into the yard (to eat the thousands of insects that should be available) where pesticides are not used. 

Certain early blooming plants have nectar and or pollen available to feed the emerging bees and other insects. A series of different plants are needed to supply nectar, pollen, leaves, seeds, berries, or structure to support the circle of life. Each critter is dependent on others - and others dependent on it.  In our yards, they are all dependent on our choices.

It has been shown that plants native to an area support the native critters. With climate warming some natives are blooming too early or arriving too late to synchronize their needs - especially for pollination and food. There are many sources of information to help you find out what will probably work in your yard.