Home & Hearth – Creating a Private Wildlife Sanctuary

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Listen to the sound of the songbirds and see the butterflies sipping nectar from wildflowers. Hear the splash of a cardinal bathing in your birdbath and see your children learning more about God’s creatures. This could be your backyard!

It doesn’t matter what part of Fort Bend County you live in or how much space you have, you can create a habitat for wildlife and even get it certified as an official Backyard Wildlife Habitat site with the National Wildlife Federation (NWF). According to the National Wildlife Federation, there are few key things needed to create a wildlife sanctuary in your yard: food, water, cover and a safe place to raise young.

Food sources include seeds from a plant, berries, nectar, foliage, twigs, nuts, fruits, pollen, suet, bird feeders, squirrel feeders, hummingbird feeders and butterfly feeders. Water sources include a small birdbath, a pond or a trickling water feature. Small wildlife like a place where they can feel safe. Having bushes or short shrubs where they can feel protected from humans, predators and inclement weather is a must. Now is a great time to get a plan for creating a habitat for birds, butterflies and other amazing small creatures that visit the area.

Once you have installed these elements into your yard and created a healthy and sustainable wildlife habitat, enroll in the NWF’s Certified Wildlife Habitat™ program at www.nwf.org/Garden-For-Wildlife/Create.aspx.

Garden Guy would love to help you create and install the elements for an amazing backyard wildlife habitat! For more information, call 281-208-4400 or visit www.garden-guy.com.