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Creating a Backyard Wildlife Habitat
Landscaping for wildlife can be as easy as planting
a couple of bushes, or as complex as your gardening interest will
carry you. The four essential ingredients are: food, water, shelter
and places to raise young. Start by examining what your yard already
provides. Then introduce new elements to supplement and enhance
this site for wildlife. For related resources, see the bottom of
this page.
Food: Shrubs and trees provide fruits
and seeds throughout the year. Choose native plants, such as blueberry,
sumac and viburnum. Perennial and annual flowers provide nectar
for both butterflies and hummingbirds. Hummingbirds visit bee balm,
wild columbine and cardinal flower. Butterflies enjoy butterfly
weed, purple coneflower and phlox. You can add feeders to provide
a variety of seeds for birds through the winter months.
Water: Provide water by adding a birdbath
or installing a small pond. Heaters added to birdbaths in winter
ensure a year round supply of water. A small fountain will add the
sound of running water and increases the birds' activity. Ponds
may be easily constructed in most yards, and provide a home for
dragonflies, fish, newts, frogs and other aquatic life, as well
as water for small mammals.
Cover: Many of the same trees and shrubs
used for food also protect animals from weather and predators. Include
evergreen and deciduous shrubs. A small brush pile in a corner of
your yard provides cover for birds or an over wintering spot for
many insects or moths. Rock, log and mulch piles offer effective
cover. Small mammals, reptiles, amphibians and a great variety of
insects find homes in these structures.
Places to Raise Young: Evergreens, deciduous
trees, and shrubs provide additional nesting areas for birds. Rabbits,
shrews, mice, snakes and salamanders lay their eggs or raise young
under boughs of plants as well as in the rock, log, or mulch piles.
Aquatic animals, such as frogs, toads, and newts, deposit their
eggs in the ponds. Butterfly eggs and caterpillars find safety among
the herbs, flowers, shrubs, and trees. You can supplement cavity
trees with nest boxes for bluebirds, chickadees, wrens, and purple
martins.
Some internet resources
Publications
There are many books and magazines that can help guide your
habitat-creation process. Here are a few of our favorites:
Enhancing Your Backyard Habitat for
Wildlife
Peter M. Picone; Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection,
1995
Homes for Wildlife: Habitat Enhancement
on School Grounds
Marilyn C. Wyzga; NH Fish & Game Department, 1998 (click
to order)
Landscaping for Wildlife
Carrol L. Henderson, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources,
1987
Your Backyard Wildlife Garden
Marcus Schneck; Quarto Publishing, Rodale Press, Emmaus, PA, 1992
Sources for Northeast Native Plants
First, encourage your local nursery to stock native plants, particularly
those that are propagated from seed (not field collected). Next,
check out:
Garden in the Woods, The New England Wild Flower
Society
180 Hemenway Road; North Framingham, MA 01701; (508) 877-7630;
www.newfs.org
Plants 4NH, Apple Barn Nursery
Route 13 at 3 Central Square; New Boston, NH; (603) 487-3460;
www.Plants4NH.com
Tripple Brook Farm
37 Middle Road, Southampton, MA 01073; (713) 527-4626; www.tripplebrookfarm.com
Rolling Green Nursery
64 Breakfast Hill Road, Greenland, NH 03840; (603) 436-2732; www.rollinggreennursery.com
Eastern Plant Specialties
PO Box 226W; Georgetown, ME 04548; www.easternplant.com
Blue Meadow Farm
184 Meadow Road; Montague Center, MA 01351; (413) 367-2394
Amanda's Garden, Wild Flowers and Native Perennials
8410 Harpers Ferry Road, Springwater, NY, 14560; (585) 669-2275
For more information on schoolyard and backyard
habitats, contact Marilyn Wyzga, N.H. Fish and Game Department,
11 Hazen Dr. Concord, NH 03301; (603) 271-3211; marilyn.c.wyzga@wildlife.nh.gov
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