Look beyond the fence for garden design inspiration

Surrounding landscapes and wild habitats can help inspire your garden design and welcome  more wildlife. 

We all want to help wildlife and see it thrive in our gardens. Providing native  plants that pollinators know and have evolved is just as important as adapting them to field  conditions. But plant selection isn’t the only consideration when encouraging  wildlife. We also have to think about what habitats they use. In particular, we want to see what  wild and man-made landscapes exist around our homes, and how we can  enhance, expand, or replicate those landscapes in our gardens to encourage  more wildlife, such as birds, frogs, and beneficial insects, to visit. 

Expand the tree line. Birds and other animals use tree trunks as camouflage sites for migration  and rearing of young. If forests or trees adjoin your property, consider  increasing or expanding vegetation in your landscaping. Hierarchical diversity can be increased  by adding groundwater that can compete with some shade from existing canopy trees based on surrounding trees, or by planting larger canopy trees. Consider adding tree  diversity to encourage more wildlife, a variety of native species that will thrive in field conditions. 

If there are no forests or trees nearby, it’s a good idea to start with the available  space. Even a single tree or shrub, regardless of size, will be a valuable local resource for all kinds of creatures. A single aster flower or clump of asters can mean all the difference  to a butterfly looking to refuel or lay eggs. Many asters are host plants for moths and butterflies,  etc. 

Fortify or build fences. Densely planted hedges of trees or shrubs that often line landscapes or  fields are home to many birds and a prime native honey bee. They provide considerable privacy  for both humans and wildlife. 

Dense vegetation along fences in urban and rural areas can create a similar environment for  wildlife. Large shrubs such as dogwood, button bush, elderberry, viburnum and ninebark provide  year-round habitat in cover form berries, nuts, flowers and leaves that serve as larval hosts for  insect pollination. 

Native shrubs to feed your birds year-round

Connect to meadows or prairies. Many native bees are small and can only fly a few blocks before  refueling, so making a stopover with the same flowers and grasses that grow in nearby wilderness  areas will be of great help. Where I live, many home lots are covered with meadows or have  common areas planted with native grasses and wildflowers. There may be a park or field with large  flower fields nearby. Even if your home garden is a few blocks or a mile from the nearest park or  meadow, it can still provide habitat for pollinators and birds. 

Don’t forget to collect flowers so that pollinators flying overhead can find them more easily.  Massing can also help your garden appear better designed to those who may see it as weeds. 

How to design a meadow garden everyone will love

Reduce ponds or wetlands. There is no substitute for a natural water feature in a wildlife  landscape, but a fountain, pond or rain garden can be a refuge for a variety of wetland species such as amphibians, turtles and  even birds migrating into their range. 

If your landscaping has already been outlined to create a floodplain area, consider creating a pond  by consulting an ecological design expert. Rain gardens that filter and drain roof runoff are helpful,  as are bioswales, gutters that collect, move, and drain  water. Bioswales can filter street runoff instead of sending it downstream in storm drains, and it’s  very attractive. 

When considering ways to replicate and expand nearby habitats, it’s also important to consider  fences and landscape lighting in your yard, either by  direct linking or by creating similar islands of plant species. Fences can hinder the movement of  terrestrial animals, and street lights can confuse migratory birds and nocturnal pollinators such as  moths. 

If you need a fence to keep your pets inside or outside, consider a design with  holes for small wildlife, like this project from. When designing landscape  lighting, follow practices that reduce light pollution and protect wildlife. 

Our landscapes are more important than ever, and many species can benefit  from taking cues from nearby habitats.