For nature at its best, create a backyard for wildlife

By June Nolasco

OSU Extension master gardener volunteer

Look out your window and imagine a beautiful green yard with flowers, shrubs and wildlife everywhere —nature at its best. It can happen with just a little planning this winter. It’s easier than you may think and you probably have a good start, you just don’t realize it.

Just like people, wildlife have four basic needs: water, food, shelter and nesting places. This may sound too complicated to provide, but it’s easy.

Here are a few tips:

Supply water

A birdbath will do the trick. You might find one on clearance this month. Keep the water fresh and the bowl clean. For the small ground creatures, a water-filled saucer sitting on the ground works well. Since dehydration is a serious winter problem for wildlife, a small plug-in heater in the water solves that problem. Some birdbaths have heaters built into them.

Provide food

Any type of feeder will be appreciated. Clean it to prevent bacterial spread. Place feeders in locations that do not provide hiding places for cats and other predators. Place them 10 to 12 feet from low shrubs.

Flowers, shrubs and trees are a great source of food for wildlife. Annuals that provide seed and nectar include snapdragon, cosmos, four o’clock, bachelor’s button, impatiens, portulaca, cleome, marigold, zinnia and sunflower. Perennials include goldenrod, Oriental poppy, larkspur, coneflower, penstemon, coreopsis, Joe Pye weed, black-eyed Susan, aster, hollyhock, gaura and pincushion flower.

Trees and shrubs that provide berries include dogwood, holly, juniper, serviceberry, viburnum, spicebush, American burning bush, crabapple, bittersweet and elderberry. Trees that provide seeds include birch, maple, redbud, arborvitae and blue spruce. Trees that provide nuts include oak, pine, chestnut, beechnut, hickory, walnut and pecan.

Annuals that provide nectar include dianthus, petunia, zinnia, fuchsia and lantana. Perennials include monarda, hyssop, liatris, coneflower, columbine, phlox, cardinal flower, daylily, corcosmia, salvia, foxglove, turtlehead and more. Shrubs include buddleia, cotoneaster and flowering quince. Vines include trumpet and honeysuckle.

Create cover, places to raise young

Bird, bee, bat and toad houses near an outside faucet, stone walls and brush and wood piles all provide shelter and protection. Trees, evergreens and shrubs are nature’s way of providing safe places. The birds in my yard love the arborvitae and other evergreens.

Take an inventory of your trees and plants this winter. Maybe by adding a few annuals and perennials, a birdbath, or bird feeder you will have all you need to create a wildlife paradise. Go to: go.osu.edu/wildbackyard.