The house next door sits vacant, placed on the market after the last renter moved out. A succession of owners has knocked down walls, replaced carpeting and installed standard-issue appliances.
Edging the exterior are shrubs from conventional landscaping palettes, including invasive species that encroach on wildlife habitat. The lawn receives a weekly crew cut by men on riding mowers, followed by gas-powered trimming and leaf blowing.
Though a real estate agent would call the property unoccupied, the box turtle who sometimes crosses the yard might beg to differ. The cardinal perching in the lone tree defies that sentiment, too.
Unlike humans, an adaptable species that can find food and shelter around the globe, many wild animals have limited ranges—and may never venture beyond our backyards. Unfortunately for these creatures, homeowners usually focus more on readying properties for resale than nurturing a home for other species. Research reveals that even when people want to garden ecologically, the desire to match the Joneses’ sterile turfgrass yard—and maintain cookie-cutter appearances for the real estate market—is a more powerful draw.
But helping wildlife and meeting community standards aren’t mutually exclusive. Research also shows that well-kept ecological gardens influence people’s preferences for more diverse yards. By incorporating the following visual signals of care, we can fit in with all our neighbors, even the wild ones—and inspire more oases for animals.
Let plants lead by example
When a highway planting of winterberry hollies bore stunning red fruit, homeowners called the Delaware Center for Horticulture to learn about the shrub. The response surprised University of Delaware associate professor Sue Barton. “By planting something on the roadside,” she says, “I could make a bigger impact on people than anything I could ever write or lecture about.” Adding native plants with flowers or fruit to your own yard can have a similar effect, providing priceless PR for wildlife gardens.
Frame the view
Hedges of native shrubs or rows of native flowers help wildlife while also conveying neatness and order. A mowed strip along the road “frames patches of greater biodiversity with clear signs of human intention,” Michigan landscape architect Joan Iverson Nassauer once wrote, and makes unconventional plantings seem familiar. Arbors and well-placed containers also suggest a planned landscape.
A humane backyard is a natural habitat offering wildlife plenty of food, water and cover, plus a safe place to live free from pesticides, chemicals, free-roaming pets, inhumane practices and other threats. And it's so easy to build!
Create pathways and edges
Impenetrable plantings exacerbate feelings of separation from the natural world. Garden walkways have the opposite effect, inviting interaction with the landscape. When my 7-year-old niece found a mowed path through our meadow, she fired up her wheelchair and took off to explore, finding a new favorite spot under a tree.
Lining beds with rocks or branches creates navigational cues and hiding places for small animals. “I’m a huge fan of using found objects within the property,” says Jesse Elwert Peters, an ecological landscape designer from Saratoga Springs, New York. “The land that we live on is really rocky. Whenever we’re gardening, we dig up huge boulders.” Peters arranges these unearthed treasures among plants.
Add functional ornaments
Bird-baths and water dishes also signify human influence. “It looks really nice, and it’s really a kind thing to do for wildlife, especially in the hottest days of the summer,” Peters says.
Bee boxes help ecological landscape designer Annie White educate her Burlington, Vermont, neighbors about cavity-nesting native bees. “When people are walking past my front gardens, they see these nesting boxes and they ask what they are,” she says. “And that starts the conversation.”
By placing a bat house atop a tree snag, Maryland artist Melinda Byrd created a sculptural habitat. Though bats have yet to roost, woodpeckers have excavated holes in the dead trunk, creating homes for nesting chickadees and bluebirds.
Hang signs of the times
Posted explanations of the importance of dead wood or the consequences of pesticides can contextualize your efforts. Make signs or buy them from animal welfare and conservation organizations. My favorite is the HSUS’s eye-catching Humane Backyard sign, which helps me spread the seeds of an idea—and the seeds of my wildlife-friendly plants—far beyond my own habitat.
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This was written and produced by the team behind All Animals, our award-winning magazine. Each issue is packed with inspiring stories about how we are changing the world for animals together.
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