Expect some undesirable critters and plants to make your backyard habitat their home, too.
Animals such as garden snakes and moles are unpopular neighbors around the home but play their part in the balance of nature. Here are a few simple things you can do to avoid conflicts.
- Squirrels and bird feeders: Fill hanging feeders with safflower seed, instead of sunflower seed, and place 6 feet above the ground and 10 feet on all sides from the nearest tree. Attach pie pans or lengths of garden hose to discourage tight-wire walkers. Add a funnel of metal flashing 5 feet up on feeder posts. Decoy squirrels by feeding them seeds and corn.
- Overzealous deer: Hang pantyhose stuffed with human hair, or place hair in trenches around shrubs and flowers. Hanging strong-smelling soap is also effective. Place sheets of chicken wire on the ground and around tree trunks. Plant boxwoods around edges of garden.
- Bird-eating snakes: Wrap metal flashing around all crawlways leading to nest box openings.
- Raccoons in trashcans: Tie down lids with elastic cords. Drape a towel over containers and sprinkle with ammonia.
- Nuisance birds: Use hanging bird feeders – house sparrows shun them. Suspend suet from a wire to discourage starlings. Both species prefer cheap feeds and avoid whole corn kernels.
- Weeds: mulch 3-4″ deep, use newspaper under mulch around plantings, keep soil from getting compacted.
SAFETY TIPS
Creating your successful Backyard Wildlife Habitat garden will make you become part naturalist, landscaper, and wildlife manager. To sustain a healthy, varied animal population, be sure to avoid these pitfalls:
- Regular suet spoils at 70 degrees. Nuts turn rancid in heat, only use them for food in winter.
- Dangerous fungi contaminate wet bird seed. Store it in a dry place…away from squirrels.
- Keep the ground clean under feeders. Rake away seed hulls. Rotate feeders on a regular basis.
- Remember to keep water features filled and free from ice.
- Don’t use electric fences to control deer, they kill hummingbirds.
- Just say no to pesticides in your garden. Chemicals can poison
(Image provided by Connie Morrison.)