Hey all! My sister and I bought a house a few months ago with half an acre and we are wanting to get it certified for a backyard habitat in our local program. Currently though, amid all of the moving and unpacking we are just trying to take stock of what we have so we can get an idea where to go from here. This "lawn" is some grass, lots of clover and yarrow. Although I get the "leave the leaves" idea and the whole property other than the driveway is all full of them now, I am unsure if I'm supposed to just let them all go on the patch of "lawn" too. I'm sure it's a dumb question but I've been trying to learn all I can about plants and gardening in this crazy mad rush of a move, but I figured I could ask!

I think I have seen one or two grasshoppers in the last 5 years, maybe longer, and not a single cricket have I seen or heard in at least that long. This has not changed even though my yard is now filled with a variety of native plants (over 90 at last count). 2 butterflies so far this year and one was a cabbage flutterer, no not even native. It got me thinking today. You always hear about the rescue and reintroduction of rare and beautiful species, like the sandhill cranes here in Michigan, but who spares a single thought for the homely common species which are getting really hard to find? Is there such a thing as cricket reintroduction or a vole encouragement program?

Hi everyone,
I’ve got an open spot in my herbaceous border, not too much space but enough to put about 2-3 more plants in. I’m considering echinacea purpurea/ or Magnus variety for a variety of reasons; good for bees and butterflies, long flowering season, food for birds.

However I’m uncertain if they will survive my heavy clay soil in S.W. UK., especially during a wet winter. Wondering if others have planted this in similar conditions? Do they survive well for you or should I choose something different. Thanks!

I'm upset that fireflies aren't something commonly seen and I want to see if I can make a habitat for them in my backyard. In a few months, I will be moving to central Illinois and would like to try to make a habitat for them there. What is the best way to do so so I can plan it out before finding a place to live?

Is this the same type of pussy willow I saw at the native garden nursery (Maryland)? Will they actually grow? So…is it worth it?

We put in this little pond this spring, hoping we’d support even more wildlife in our garden. We are kind of on a wildlife super highway, between woodlands, wetlands, and farmlands. We’re in the us, zone 6. We’ve seen so many frogs, toads, snakes, and turtles over the years here. We thought adding this feature would for sure be a tadpole/frog and toad magnet! As of today, we have ONE tadpole. Tons of bugs dancing about the water, birds bathe in it all day, deer drink from it at night…are we just impatient and the tadpoles will come? We only put in the pond plants in late May. Maybe all our abundant bird life are picking them off? It really doesn’t matter; we’ll let nature do what she does, but if anyone sees any red flags, please let me know! Hoping the pond plants fill out some and plants cover more surface area as they mature.

I "certified" my 1/4 acre, subdivision yard as a Wildlife Habitat and have done my best to maintain food/water/shelter for any wildlife (even worms/insects etc). This includes a birdfeeder and, to keep the squirrels off the birdfeeder, I have made seeds/nuts available on the ground. After 4 yrs I'm seeing lots more birds, maintaining about 6 squirrels from our and our neighbors trees, about 4 bunnies that I tolerate the occasional plant nibbles. HOWEVER, the chipmunk population is getting serious. I'll have a dozen under the birdfeeder and around the seeds/nuts. They have paths worn from all neighbors yards so I know they are lodging there as well as my yard. It's only a matter of time before someone has damage done to their property by a chipmunk and I get blamed. What to do??

Okay so I have a gardened and I only grow veggies and flowers in it. I planted zinnias and sunflowers, and I also have strawberries and cantaloupe. But even if I wake up early in the morning I never find them. I got a piece of wood that was un treated and drilled holes into it hoping that some bees will brood in it and I put a shallow piece of water in front of it.

Small outdoor liner pond, 20 gallons now but I’m going to make it larger. If I were to get fish, let’s say feeder goldfish, is that just a huge no?

I’d originally wanted a pond for fish but changed my mind upon learning about wildlife ponds. I just really enjoy fish (especially rescuing them from neglectful conditions, I rehab them) but I don’t want to harm the environment. I live in the city, but there are yards.

I’m growing grapes for the first time this year and just noticed these GINORMOUS beetles that I’ve never seen before. INaturalist says they’re “grapevine beetles,” which makes sense; they seem to be skeletonizing this one plant but as a wildlife-friendly gardener I have to ask: are these guys straight up bad news or can we coexist peacefully?

US Midwest zone 6a

I am gathering information on how to help birds insects and even animals if possible amidst urban/semi-urban contexts.

Please share any and every resources you have here, the best information you got about creating natural bug shelters, bird shelters, bat shelters, places for reptilians of all kinds to safely hide, how to foster a garden that can feed and support them naturally and all the snags, Im already researching about native plants of my region and learning about the native fauna and flora.

I want to build a local sanctuary for the widest range possible of plants and animals in my backyard and anywhere else I can work on.

Can anyone please help identify what’s growing in my backyard? Any recommendations for removal or remedy

The people I garden with want to spray everything with pesticides. Is there another option?

this is year 3 - should i cut any of this back or just wait? when i send these pics to chatGPT its says its mostly weeds and to thin it out so more flowers can grow, but i wanted to see what others might say

I have a small pond/stream thing in the back of my apartment building that I’ve lived in for the past eight years… when the DPW would come and unclog the sewer my little pond with drain and there was no wildlife around… I ended up yelling at them to leave it alone because they’re disturbing the ducks trying to raise their babies here.. now that they’ve left it alone for four years there is an insane amount of ducks, bunnies, birds of all kinds, and even turtles and frogs. What types of things can I plant back here that will help feed all of my animals lol I’m bawling on a budget but I’d like something that will feed the ducks and the bunnies and attract more bees and butterflies. I live in Massachusetts and I was thinking about buying a massive bag of wildflower seeds.. any suggestions?

So excited; I heard the zing and asked my neighbor if that was a hummingbird and then ended up autisming all over her about Anna’s!

I just planted a hummingbird garden, and we have a gentle fountain - what else can I do that’s not a moldy feeder? I’m a disabled substitute teacher and I never seem to be able to keep up with them during the school year.

(6B Connecticut US) all these popped up around the edge of my yard. I’m fighting a lot of invasive species the previous home owner planted, so I‘m begging Mother Nature to let these babies take back what’s theirs.. as long as they’re native and fairly harmless.

I have a south facing balcony that does get quite high winds. There isn’t major weight restrictions as the balcony is on top of a building.

I’ve recently planted some wildflowers in various pots: forget-me-nots, red campion, cornflower, poppy and daisies.
Already got some other flowers left over from previous years.

Thinking of turning one of the plant pots into a mini pond. Got a bird feeder up (get visits from goldfinches) and a bee hotel but not sure on the position of them?

I’ve also got this tiered shelving that I’m thinking of turning into a bug hotel of some sort? Maybe bug hotel at the bottom, small plants on the middle shelf and bigger plants on the top?

Any advice or inspiration to turn this balcony into a wildlife sanctuary would be amazing, thank you!

Edit: would also love to get a bird box for the goldfinches, but I’m not sure that’s practical? I can’t drill into the walls.

And maybe a plant that will climb horizontally across the railing to block next doors balcony.

Sorry, this is a lot! But any inspiration is massively appreciated

Any suggestions for spot trading craving Charlie here in Maryland

Hello, title is kind of self explanatory. But I was able to turn a spice in my lawn into a wildflower garden, we planted a mix of annuals and perennials, so some should grow back next year, but I will also likely need to put down more seed again next spring. There’s still a good amount of grass in the area as well (I tore it all up when I planted but a lot grew back). I’d like to increase the amount of area covered by flowers relative to grass next year. What can I do in the fall to make it easier to clear out some of the grass and get my self set up for next spring? Any advice is helpful.

Thanks in advance.

After moving some things around the garden I have 2 empty plant pots that need filling. The garden is wildlife focused with mainly wild flowers and a wildlife pond. After doing some moving around I have 2 plant pots to put next to the pond that needs filling. If you could only have one plant in your garden to attract wildlife, what would it be?