Create a native haven
You can create a native haven in your garden that will encourage wildlife to come and share your backyard.
Birds in your backyard
Attract wild birds by creating a garden that will provide food, shelter and nesting materials and sites. Local flowering plants and fruit trees provide birds with nectar and seeds. To provide birds with some protein rich food, use mulch to encourage worms, insects and grubs to thrive. Plant dense prickly native shrubs for shelter, hang up nesting boxes and install a bird bath.
Encourage frogs to come to live and breed in your backyard. Create a small shallow pond in an area that is partly shaded. Include thick ground hugging plants around part of the pond to provide areas of warmer and cooler water. Your pond will need some sunlight to encourage algae and other plants that provide food for tadpoles. Make sure the banks slope gently so that the frogs can get out. Add some rocks and logs to provide shelter for adult frogs.
Create a buzz
Not all bugs are pests. Good bugs pollinate plants, break down dead flora and fauna, aerate the soil and provide for other wildlife. They can even help keep harmful pests away. Create an inviting environment for good bugs by planting plenty of native plants, wildflowers and herbs and use chemical-free pest control when the pests do creep in.
Find out more about the wildlife in your backyard on the Australian Museum website. Explore resources on Australia’s biodiveristy, conduct invertebrate field work investigations using Bugwise and indentify birds using Birds in Backyards. australianmuseum.net.au/Museum-2-You
Russ Weakley , Web Designer