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Certify Your Backyard as a Wildlife Sanctuary

Jasmin Malik Chua, Jersey City, USA

Jasmin Malik Chua

By Jasmin Malik Chua
Jersey City, NJ, USA | Sun Mar 23 17:21:00 EDT 2008

Host a healthy and sustainable nature sanctuary, right in your own backyard. You can even get it certified by the National Wildlife Federation as a bona fide wildlife habitat, complete with a yard sign you can stake on your grounds.

To transform your backyard into a wildlife-friendly haven, start by replacing the ol' putting green with native and indigenous plants, whether they're cactus gardens in Arizona or bottlebrush grasses in Northern Michigan. Already adapted to local conditions, native plants are easy to grow and maintain, generally requiring less fertilizer and water, as well as less effort to rein in pests.Besides tending to the needs of native birds, you should also extend some hometown hospitality to our pollinator pals, such as butterflies and bees, by growing a diverse variety of native flowers they're particularly drawn to, such as wild lilac, goldenrod, and lemon balm.

And you know what they say about Mother knowing best? Well, Mother Nature never needed to steal sips from a chemical cocktail of pesticides, weed killers, and chemical fertilizers to keep her act together. Nix the poisons and layer on some all-natural compost, instead. Call in beneficial insect reinforcements to wrestle pesky garden pests to the ground.

Provide food, water, and shelter, and you're good to go. With curb appeal like that, it won't be long before your yard becomes the latest critter hot spot. Sure beats watching well-manicured lawn grass grow, if you ask us. ::National Wildlife Federation

Difficulty level: Moderate to advanced

 
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