Traditional lawn vs. wildlife-friendly yard. Photo: Robert Petty

Backyard Habitat

Loss of habitat, climate change, and environmental degradation create a perfect storm threatening wildlife at all levels. While land conservation remains critical to protecting wildlife, our solution must also include the spaces where we work, live, and play. The idea that nature should remain where nature exists—that people are here, and nature is somewhere else—separates us from nature. This is not healthy for our planet, and it’s not healthy for us. Creating backyard (and front yard) habitats is a small, local step you can take that adds up to major benefits for both nature and for your own health and happiness.

Why Backyard Habitats Are Important

Traditional US landscapes have centered around large lawns, imported plant species, and clean, barren planting beds. A variety of chemical applications are typically employed to sustain this unnatural state. Rather than providing havens for wildlife, traditional landscapes add to habitat loss and environmental degradation. In contrast, natural landscapes create beauty and engagement while benefiting the native wildlife that has resided in our region for many thousands of years.

It has been estimated that US lawns cover a land area equivalent to all of New England. Our heavy dependence on lawns can be traced back to the 1700’s when they were status symbols, signaling great wealth. Even today, many people mistakenly think that brilliantly-green lawns are signs of good citizenship. Yet the fertilizers and herbicides used to maintain this standard end up primarily in our streams and water tables, where they wreak havoc on fish and aquatic life. Further, they are ecological deserts in terms of supporting insects, birds, and other wildlife.

Components of Wildlife-friendly Habitats

All creatures, including people, require food, water, and shelter. In the same way that you don’t want toxic chemicals in your food, water, or home, it’s important for wildlife habitats to be free from pollutants and other hazards.

Native plants provide the foundation for nature’s food web. The complex relationships and dependencies between plants and animals have developed over many thousands of years. Remove those relationships, and the ecosystem contracts into monocultures dominated by invasive plant and animal species with low species diversity and diminished populations. Try adding native plant varieties that are suitable for your planting area’s sunlight, soil, and moisture conditions. Pay particular attention to varieties that you enjoy, and that support pollinators and birds. For more information, visit our Native Plants for Birds page.
Another way to support nature’s food chain, and help sustain insects and native bees is by allowing leaves and other natural material to remain as mulch in your garden beds. Mulch and organic material help:
- Reduce germination of weeds
- Improve and build topsoil
- Reduce runoff and erosion (our salmon will thank you for that)
- Shelter plants from temperature extremes
- Reduce watering needs
Water features also make your property more wildlife friendly. This can be as elaborate as installing a pond or waterfall, or as simple as setting up a bird bath with a small, self-contained circulating fountain. Fountains provide movement which helps attract a wide variety of birds. If you take this step, be prepared to clean the birdbath on a regular basis.
There are a number of ways you can create shelter for wildlife:
- A combination of larger trees, smaller trees, understory, and ground cover creates a diversity of habitats, encouraging a diversity of species.
- If you have a tree removed, consider leaving an eight-to-ten-foot snag. You’ll enjoy watching your neighborhood birds put it to use, especially woodpeckers, nuthatches, and creepers. Watch the recording of our monthly program discussing the importance of dead wood for wildlife, presented by Ken Bevis of the Washington Dept. of Natural Resources.
- Loggeries, or small collections of logs, create habitat for salamanders, frogs, native bees, and other insects. As the logs decompose, they can provide accents in a naturalistic garden design. Decomposing wood helps create forest-like conditions that suit native groundcovers such as bunchberry, trilliums, and vanilla leaf.
Each year, Americans apply millions of pounds of chemicals to their yards. Most of it ends up either in our streams and waterways, making its way up the food web to kill or weaken birds, mammals, amphibians, and reptiles, or working its way into our homes and bodies via kids, dogs, footprints, and air circulation.
You and your landscape can flourish without the chemicals. Replace lawn fertilizer with a mulching mower that returns nutrients back to your lawn. A smaller lawn space is easier to maintain through natural methods, including overseeding, manual removal of weeds, and natural soil enhancers. Mulch and ground covers will help your topsoil and plants remain healthy by building up your soil, reducing erosion, and suppressing weeds. Bear in mind that mother nature has maintained beautiful landscapes for thousands of years without ever resorting to chemicals!
Applying chemicals to control rodents is a self-defeating approach, as it harms raptors and other natural predators. By returning birds to your property, you reduce problems with rodents. It’s also important to eliminate food sources that might attract rodents and make sure your home and crawl space are free of potential entry points. If you have a bird feeder, use suet that contains hot pepper. Rodents and squirrels don’t like the pepper, but the birds don’t mind it. Also, bird feed supply stores offer catch trays and squirrel baffles to address issues with rodents and squirrels. The organization Raptors are the Solution has additional information on controlling rodents.
Light pollution is an often-overlooked hazard. Night lighting interferes with the life habits of insects, birds, and even humans. Our Lights Out page has additional information.
Window strikes are a major threat to birds. Our Preventing Window Collisions page has additional information and resources.
Lastly, remember that housecats are not native to our region. Maintaining your cat as an indoor pet will protect both your cat and your neighborhood birds.

Certify Your Space as Wildlife Habitat!

Once you’ve done the important work of making your yard wildlife-friendly, you can then get your yard officially recognized and certified as wildlife habitat! There are several organizations and programs that you can go through, which we’ve listed below: