8 Best Plants to Create a Wildlife Haven in Your Backyard
By Cora Gold
Growing plants is an excellent way to give back to nature. If you pick the right plants, you’ll support your local ecosystem and everything within it. Consider some of the best plants to create a wildlife haven if you want to see more birds, butterflies, and animals thrive in your community.
1. Lantana Flowers
Anyone who wants a flower garden should start with lantanas. The tiny clusters of flower petals bloom nearly overnight and rapidly expand to whatever space their roots can reach.
Butterflies love the nectar within lantanas, so they’re an excellent food source throughout the spring and summer. Researchers also note that lantanas even conserve long-tongued butterflies more effectively due to the flower’s long cone shape.
2. Conifer Trees
Seeing more birds in your backyard might be your goal for this year. They won’t visit if they don’t have safe places to rest their wings or build nests. Conifer trees have numerous species that provide dense shelter for birds. They’re some of the best plants to create a wildlife haven if you have empty vertical spaces and want to use your birdwatching binoculars more often.
3. Zinnia
If you want to turn your backyard into a beautiful wildflower meadow, zinnia is the perfect option. Zinnia not only come in beautiful shades of pink, red, orange and yellow, but they are great for attracting bees, hummingbirds and other pollinators.
As an added bonus, they are a hypoallergenic flower, so they’re great for anyone with allergies.
4. Switchgrass
Grass might not seem like something that creates a wildlife haven, but it’s vital to any ecosystem. Find a wild grass species that naturally grows in your region, like switchgrass. You could grow it in oversized planters or specific garden sections limited by edging.
As your switchgrass stretches toward the sky, you’ll discover deer stopping by to munch on it. Birds also love to hide among its thick stems after the grass reaches a few feet tall.
5. Basil
Flowers aren’t the only way to support local pollinators. Herbs like basil help them, too. It’s one of the many herbs that attract bees with tiny blooms. Grow some basil in little pots or around your garden so local bees carry pollen to your other plants, too.
When you’re not watching bees buzz around your garden, you could harvest your basil to live a longer life with healthy foods grown at home. It might be the first step you take toward your kitchen garden.
6. Elderberry Trees
Although elderberries come from miniature trees, people often add them to their properties because the trees resemble massive bushes. When the white flowers appear during the summer, your garden will attract animals like deer, birds, insects and elk. They’re some of the best plants to create a wildlife haven because the flowers and berries support numerous species.
7. Lavender Flowers
Anyone who wants to build a wildlife haven for bumblebees should start their gardening adventure with lavender. The tiny purple flowers are perfect for bumblebees because they have tubular shapes that work with a bug’s long tongue. If you want to get creative, you could also harvest the flowers for tea, infused oil or recipes for baked goods.
8. Hostas
People love growing hostas because the large, sometimes colorful leaves add lush visual layers to gardens. They’re also beloved snacks for deer and rabbits. If you grow hostas to feed the local wildlife, you’ll only have to fight off insects like weevils that hide beneath the leaves and chew holes before animals can find your backyard.
Grow the Best Plants to Create a Wildlife Haven
Once you’ve read about the best plants to create a wildlife haven, it’s easier to imagine starting your own. Consider where you’ll plant various flowers, shrubs and trees. If you time your project according to their growth cycles, you’ll quickly have a supportive backyard for all friendly animals and insects living in your region.
About the author: Cora Gold is a sustainability writer who aims to live a healthy, low-waste lifestyle. Read more from Cora in Revivalist magazine, LinkedIn and Twitter.