Get Gardening â

One of the simplest and most effective ways to attract wildlife to your backyard is through thoughtful planting. The best plants to include are those that provide nutritious food and effective cover for wildlife. The way you plant, however, is also important in determining how attractive your yard will be to wildlife. The following projects give some ideas for creating green or multi-coloured spaces that both you and the local wildlife will enjoy.

Edges | Wildflower meadow | Container planting | Companion planting

Edges
An edge is the border between two types of habitat, for example, between a forest and a field. Urban areas have lots of edges along property lines, streams and rivers, road sides, and parks. These can be very beneficial to wildlife if managed properly.

If there is a sharp change from one habitat type to the next, this area's usefulness to wildlife is limited. For example, a short cropped field bordered by a straight line of tall trees leading into a forest is less useful to wildlife than a cropped field which gives way gradually to taller grasses, then small shrubs, to shorter trees and then tall trees. In a well-managed edge there is a gradual transition from one habitat type to the next. The edge or border is wide and consists of a variety of plant types and heights. The plant diversity within the edge allows for a wide variety of wildlife. Improving edge areas in your yard is easy to do even on a small property if you follow these tips:

• The background vegetation should be the tallest, consisting of trees, or, if space is limited, taller shrubs.
• The next layer, consisting of shrubs, would be lower, followed by a shorter layer of wildflowers and native grasses, and final layers of ground cover and lawn.
• An edge doesn't have to be large to attract wildlife. A few trees surrounded by a ring of shrubs, then encircled by wildflowers and grasses, and finally bordered by an open lawn is quite satisfactory. Such an arrangement provides several small edge environments for wildlife.
• If you have a downtown lot with really limited space, you can use as little as a 15 cm strip along your yard fence. Plant climbing vines such as scarlet runner beans, grapevine, virgin's bower, bittersweet, or dropmore scarlet trumpet honeysuckle vine. All these species will give wildlife a boost with their berries and blooms. You can then add wildflowers and native grasses at their base.

Wildflower meadow
Besides offering a wonderful fragrance and breathtaking sight, a native wildflower meadow is also a magnet for wildlife. It provides nectar, food, and cover for birds, insects, reptiles, amphibians, and a host of small mammals.

Your meadow could fill a small corner of your yard or several hectares. With a little luck, you'll start a whole new trend in your neighbourhood. You could also adapt this project and plant a patch of prairie grass.

• Choose an area that could serve as a transition zone between wild and conventional areas or as a replacement for part of your lawn. It should be in a sunny location.
• Till the area 15 to 20 cm deep in spring or fall.
• Only if you choose to begin the project in fall, plant heavily with buckwheat seeds after tilling. Rake the buckwheat under before the seeds set — that is, before the fresh, tender sprouts get taller than 15 cm — two to four weeks after planting. Immediately reseed with another crop of buckwheat, also tilling it under before the seeds set. Then let the area sit for the winter. (This technique, known as green manure, gives the soil nutrients that allow wildflowers to grow thicker than they would in the wild.)
• After spring thaw, cover the tilled area with heavy black plastic for two or three weeks, so the weed seeds will germinate and die. (It is important to remove any weeds from the area to be planted to allow for good growth of your wildflowers.)
• Remove the plastic and plant your wildflower seeds as well as grass seeds or seedlings. Use native species adapted to your region. Biennials and perennials take longer to establish than annuals, but are longer lasting.
• You can skip the green manure technique if you wish. If so, till the earth in the fall, put down the black covering in the spring, and then plant the native wildflower seeds.
• Mix the wildflower seeds with dry sand or vermiculite to allow for a more even distribution and to prevent from seeding too thickly.
• After seeding, rake the area lightly so that the seeds are not buried too deeply. The seeds should be at a maximum depth of 6 mm. You can mulch the planted area but only very lightly. Then tamp it down.
• Do not add fertilizer. This would create an abundance of foliage at the expense of blooms and also encourage weed growth.

Maintenance:

• Water the area regularly (at least once a week unless rain is abundant) until the plants are well established. Most wildflowers are drought resistant once established but until such time the soil should be kept moist but not soaked.
• Weed out any undesirable growth once it can be identified. (Weeding will be most difficult in the first year while the wildflowers establish themselves.)
• Mow or cut your mini-meadow in late fall to boost reseeding.
• Be patient! It may take two seasons before some wildflower species come into bloom.

Container planting
If you don't have access to garden space, but would still like to attract some wildlife to your doorstep, you can create your own green space. Your balcony or patio can be converted to a wildlife-friendly "garden" paradise through the use of container plants. With only a few containers you can beckon butterflies, hummingbirds, and other wildlife.

• Collect an array of planting containers. Use commercial ones made of wood, metal, plastic, clay, and ceramic, or recycled ones. Anything that holds soil and is large enough to allow healthy plant growth — tin cans, milk pails, old buckets, feeding troughs, wastepaper baskets, wheelbarrows, rusty wagons, enamel basins, half whisky barrels, orange crates lined with plastic, flue tiles or drain pipes standing on end — will do beautifully.
• Poke or drill drainage holes in container bottoms. Add a layer of pebbles to encourage seepage. Fill pots with moisture-retaining soil.
• The height or width of the container should be 2/3 the height of the plant you wish to grow.
• If you are using containers, such as clay pots, which have large holes in the bottom, you should cover the hole with pieces of broken clay pottery or stones to keep the soil in while allowing water to drain out.
• Clay pots allow water to evaporate through their walls and therefore require frequent watering. Choose more drought-resistant plants if using clay pots.
• Be careful not to over-water plants in plastic pots, which hold water in.
• Line the insides of wooden containers or baskets with plastic to keep them from rotting. Lining wooden containers, especially those used for olives or other foods stored in brine, will also protect the plants from any remaining residues. Pull the plastic liner out through the drainage hole and cut the tip off to allow the water to drain out. (Baskets and some wooden containers may first require treatment with a preservative to withstand outside weather.)
• Use soil-based potting mixes if your plants will stay in the pot for a long time.
• Containers require regular watering during hot, dry summer months, so be sure to check them daily and water them when they start to dry out. Morning is the best time to water.
• Good potting mixes provide the nutrients plants require, but if left for a long time these can become used up and the plant will require feeding. You can use slow-release feeding pellets inserted directly into the potting mix or add soluble feed to the water, following the directions given. You will also need to supply plants with fresh potting mix every few years.
• Place containers in sheltered parts of your courtyard or balcony, choosing locations which suit the lighting requirements of the particular plant. Arrange them on surfaces, such as planks laid across cement blocks and multi-level shelves or "terraces" made of plastic-coated metal. Nestle larger receptacles in corners. Hang planters from arbours, fences, railings, arches, and walls. Use lattices and trellises to support vines planted in pots on the ground.
• Unfortunately, with Canada's climate, container plants will not survive our cold winters. Your options for the winter are to bring the plants inside, transplant them into the garden (or sink the whole pot into the soil), or let them go and replant next year. (Remember, clay pots will crack if left outside during freezing weather)

Some Suggestions for Container Planting:

Companion planting
To practice companion planting is to create harmony in the garden. Plants which complement each other are placed together, while those that disagree are kept apart. Plants can complement, or help, each other in several ways.

• Some plants grow well together because they don't compete with each other. For example, a shallow-rooted plant would do well beside a deep-rooted plant as they seek nutrients at different levels in the soil. In the same way, a shade-tolerant plant does well in the shadow of a sun-loving plant.
• Certain plants can bolster the growth of nearby plants by improving the nutrients or condition of the soil. Legumes, such as clover, for example, are able to enrich the nitrogen content of soil thereby benefitting neighbouring plants.
• Beneficial insects are attracted by certain plants. Angelica, for example, attracts lady beetles and lacewings, both of which feed on aphids. Beebalm attracts bees. By using these plants to attract beneficial insects, you also improve pollination or control insect pests for adjacent plants.
• Plants can also repel pests or disease through the production and release of chemicals or odours. Chives, for example, repel aphids. If you plant them near your roses, therefore, they can bestow this protection on these blooms.

Consideration of these factors in planning your garden will help you to create a healthy, thriving garden. Your plants will enhance the growth of their neighbours instead of competing with them.

These plants will repel pests: