Habitat Essentials

Native plants form the foundation of the food web in the natural world and should do the same in your wildlife-friendly garden or landscape. Plants provide food to wildlife in a variety of ways, from berries to nuts to nectar. In a wildlife garden, even the leaves of your plants can be an important food source for some wildlife (and that’s ok). Native plants support insects that are the next level of the food web, serving as a food source for many other species. After you fill your space with native plants, you can supplement with a well-maintained bird feeder, too.

• Keystone Plants
• Seeds and Berries
• Nectar
• Supplement Natural Food Sources with Bird Seed

Wildlife needs clean drinking water to survive. Birds need to bathe to keep their feathers in good working order, while other species including some amphibians, insects, and other wildlife lay their eggs and/or live in water full time. You can provide this habitat component in a variety of ways by adding a simple birdbath or shallow dish of water to a water garden or small garden pond.

You might not even need to add a water feature at all. Natural water bodies including lakes, rivers, bays, or coastal areas on or adjacent to your property count. Even seasonal water bodies such as vernal pools offer this vital habitat component.

• Birdbaths and Puddling Dishes
• Container Water Gardens
• Ponds
• Seasonal Water Sources or Vernal Pools

Wildlife need places to hide to feel safe from people, predators, and weather extremes. The same native plants that provide food will also provide this habitat element. Some plants offer extra cover and protection, such as evergreen or thorny plants, but the key to providing is really planting densely. The more plants your landscape has, the more cover it provides. Even dead plants, from hollow trees to brush piles to the natural layer of fallen leaves, provide excellent cover. You can then supplement this natural cover with roosting boxes for birds and small mammals or even a bat house.

• Brush and Leaves
• Trees and Snags
• Bat Houses

Providing food, water, and cover helps wildlife on an individual level, but if we want their species to continue to exist, it’s important that our habitats give them what they need. This includes finding a mate, engaging in courtship, building nests or dens, feeding their young and anything else their species need to reproduce. Providing places to raise young will look different for different kinds of wildlife. Birds need nesting places and insects to feed their babies. Frogs and salamanders need ponds to lay their eggs. Butterflies and moths require specific native host plants for their caterpillars.

• Host Plants: Keystone Plants List and Native Plant Finder
• Nesting Boxes
• Seasonal Water Sources or Vernal Pools

Providing the four components of habitat—food, water, cover, and places to raise young—will create a wonderful wildlife-friendly habitat space in and around areas where people also reside. How you design and manage these garden habitats is critically important, too. Maintaining your landscape in a sustainable, environmentally friendly way ensures that the soil, air, and water that native wildlife (and people) rely upon stay clean and healthy. The following can help you make the best choices to minimize any negative impact of gardening, landscape, and maintenance practices and become even more resilient and beneficial.

• Conserve Soil and Water
• Create Rain Gardens and Replace Impermeable Surfaces
• Minimize the Consequences of Invasive Plants
• Use Organic Gardening Practices
• Turn the Lights Off  for Wildlife
• Minimize Lawn Space and Improve Mowing Practices