What kind of wildlife can you find in your neighborhood? If you create a DIY backyard habitat that attracts animals, you’ll soon find out.
Of course, you need to account for the area you live in, but it could be a lot of fun to discover visiting deer, attractive furry creatures, various birds, or butterflies that can come and visit your home. Here are some great tips to help you have a wildlife habitat in your backyard:
Bird Feeders are a Great Place to Start
One of the most common ways to attract animals to your yard is to put up bird feeders. These items can hang from your porch, be put under a backyard enclosure, or be on top of a pole. Some are attached to the fence, others can be placed among plants, and still, others are simply set on tables. Set up the right feeders and watch the birds and squirrels come and visit your yard.
Add a Bathing Area for Your Visitors
Even if you don’t want to purchase a birdbath at the local hardware store, you can make one of your own. A DIY backyard tip is to use a plant saucer, or garbage can lid and line it with small rocks and pebbles that can be glued down. This can be placed in your garden area with some water in it. If you’re crafty, you might turn this into a moving water feature in your garden.
Create Some Natural Feeding for Animals
Research the types of animals you’re trying to attract to your yard and what they eat. Most of the animals you’re going to want to see will eat seeds, plants, berries, and flowers. Plant some trees, shrubs, vines, and flowers that can bring those animals to your yard.
Let Toads Come for a Visit
Toads are interesting creatures, and they can eat some of the bugs you don’t want to have in your yard. Give them an inviting place to enjoy their time with some toad adobes made from old or broken pots. You’ll be pleased with this DIY backyard tip when you see the toads arrive to take care of the bugs.
Keep Things Affordable at Thrift Stores
You can find a ton of easy finds that can be added to your backyard oasis to bring in more wildlife if you shop at thrift stores or look for clearance items that will be ideal for your habitat. The savings can help you get creative with how you decorate your backyard and allow you to enjoy making a place that you love to spend time and watch for visiting animals.
Use Found Rocks to Create a Rock Garden
Whether you turn your rock garden into a water feature or you simply use the rocks around your garden area, found rocks can help you keep things affordable and easy. This is a DIY backyard tip that can be great for your whole family to add to the feature and bring in rocks they find or have painted. If you find some special rocks, put the date and a name on them as a memory to reminisce about later.
Collect Water to Refill Birdbaths and Water Features
The water that comes down the downspouts can be collected into rain barrels and reused to fill your water features. This is a great way to reuse this water that would otherwise be wasted. It can also be reused to water your plants and keep your birdbaths filled. You just might find some critters spending time around your barrels where they can get a fresh drink of water.
Create Brush Piles for Animals that Nest
Some animals love to live in brush piles and use the brush as material that will go into nests in the trees and bushes. This is an easy DIY backyard tip for you, and all you need to do is create the piles from pruned trees, shrubs, and vines. Just keep an eye on which animals are using your brush to make a home.
Create a Viewing Area
The idea behind having a backyard wildlife habitat is to give you a place you can watch the animals come in for a visit. Make sure you have a great viewing place to do this. You can make this an attractive chair or bench that you set on the patio, or you can have a place in your back window where you can sit inside and see the animals as they arrive and visit your yard.
