May Is Garden For Wildlife Month And It’s Time To Dig In

May is officially “Garden for Wildlife” month, and Central Minnesotans have a huge opportunity to help local wildlife thrive, even if your only outdoor space is a balcony from your apartment.

Whether you live in a third-floor apartment in Sartell, have a tiny backyard in St. Cloud, or acres of land in Foley, experts say creating a wildlife-friendly space can be surprisingly simple.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO 'GARDEN FOR WILDLIFE'

The question is: what can you do with the space you have to provide food, water, shelter, and safe places for wildlife ranging from butterflies and bees to birds, rabbits, frogs, and even deer?

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NATIVE PLANTS OF MINNESOTA

It makes sense that if you want to provide a great space for wildlife, native Minnesota plants would be the best choice for a wildlife garden. After all, Minnesota wildlife are familiar with the plants they have evolved alongside over the years.

Depending on what type of wildlife you are able to support in your space, there are lots of native plants you could choose from.

FOR POLLINATORS

Some great central Minnesota native plants include:

• Bee balm
• Black-eyed Susans
• Purple coneflower
• Milkweed
• Blazing star
• Goldenrod
• Native Shrubs for Birds & Mammals
• Serviceberry
• Red osier dogwood
• Elderberry
• Highbush cranberry

A selection of these plants will help you provide nectar for pollinators, berries for birds, and shelter for wildlife throughout the year.

RELATED STORIES: Get Ready For Master Gardener Plant Sales May 16th & 17th

FORGET THE PERFECT LAWN

I already have to apologize to my neighbors for my unkept May yard. Everyone around me has mowed at least once, but I rarely mow in May.

Even if you love a yard that looks like a golf course, if you've got the space, you can dedicate specific areas of your yard to our outdoor friends by reducing large areas of perfectly cut grass.

GETTING STARTED

Think about replacing a small patch or two in specific locations of your lawn with flowers to:

• Help bees and butterflies
• Reduce water use
• Lower mowing time
• Improve soil health

For smaller yards, try a pollinator corner, Container gardens, and raised beds
or even vertical planters.

Apartment dwellers can still help wildlife using balcony flower pots, hanging baskets, and window herb gardens. Even a single pot of native flowers can help pollinators.

DON'T FORGET TO ADD A WATER SOURCE

Wildlife needs water sources year-round, especially when things get really dry. Some simple ideas include:

• Bird baths
• Small solar fountains
• Shallow dishes with rocks for bees
• Mini backyard ponds

The key to having a water source is having moving water. Moving water attracts birds faster and helps prevent mosquitoes, who love stagnant water. If you have no choice but to put out standing water, I would encourage you to change the water out every couple of days so it doesn't create a mosquito-growing environment.

A LITTLE MESSY IS OKAY

A perfectly tidy yard is often terrible for wildlife. Obsessing over your golf-course look is nice for you, but it definitely doesn't help the environment. Just know that it's okay to do a few things that can provide help to backyard wildlife:

• Leave some leaves in garden beds
• Keep dead flower stalks through winter
• Leave small brush piles
• Allow some natural growth

Master Gardener Bill Cook has told me many times that many native bugs and bees actually nest in the ground or inside hollow plant stems, and honestly, leaving those stems up in the winter months can create some pretty designs for your winter landscapes.

YEAR-ROUND SHELTER

We all know that our Minnesota winters can be harsh, summers can get miserable at times. We have winter and summer storms to deal with, plus predators. All of those things are even harder on our wildlife. You can help them by going the extra mile. Think about adding the following if your space allows:

• Birdhouses
• Evergreen shrubs
• Rock piles
• Dense native grasses
• Bat houses

APARTMENT AND SMALL SPACES

So you don't have a lot of space, but you can still help. Try some of the following:

• Potted milkweed
• Pollinator flowers
• Hummingbird feeders
• Bee water stations

A wildlife garden can help you attract and support:

• Monarch butterflies
• Bumblebees
• Hummingbirds
• Chickadees
• Goldfinches
• Tree frogs
• Rabbits
• Beneficial insects

START SMALL

You may even notice fewer pest problems because healthy ecosystems naturally balance themselves. If you're just learning about how to create a wildlife space, you can start small. Try this:

1. One native plant
2. One water source
3. One unmowed or natural area (I know...this is hard for some of you).

Enjoy your space, big or small, and know that you are doing what you can to help your wildlife neighbors.