Plant a butterfly garden to attract these beneficial
insects to your yard
7 STEPS TO A BEAUTIFUL BUTTERFLY GARDEN
- Make A Plan Which is your favorite species ? Are they in your area? Make a list of plants that will support those particular butterflies. After you have located a suitable area of your yard, draw a rough sketch that includes the basic needs of butterflies.
- Provide Food Adult butterflies diets consist solely on liquid food sources. They sip the liquid with their long tubular tongue. Not only do they like flower nectar, they also will sip pollen, fallen fruit, tree sap and animal dung. However Butterly larvae have chewing mouth parts and feed on leafy food plants like milled foliage, parsley and fennel.
- Create Shelter Butterflies need protection from the wind and the rain so be sure to site threes and shrubs in an appropriate place in your landscape. These plants will also provide a place for butterflies to roost at night or hide from predators. Log piles are another good source of shelter, which can be hidden in a secluded corner of your yard.
- Offer Water Butterflies prefer shallow puddles or damp sandy area and these also provide salts and essential minerals. An easy idea for is to set out a birdbath or saucer filled with water and rocks for butterflies to perch on. Place then in a visible area and keep the water fresh.
- Keep It Sunny Make sure to plant your butterfly garden in an area that gets at least 6 hours of sun every day. Butterflies are cold-blooded insects that will be less active on colder mornings. Make sure that it is in a spot where sunlight hits early in the day so the butterflies can warm cup quickly. Pavement, rocks or exposed soil will also absorb heat.
- Plant In Drifts If you plant the same plants in in drifts of 3-5, the butterflies will be be able to spot them easier.
- Go Organic Don’t use chemical fertilizers or pesticides, they can harm the butterflies and other wildlife.
Come back to read the next article in our series about butterfly gardens…Selecting Butterfly-Friendly Plants
Interested in attracting hummingbirds as well? Read our past post
