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In Your Own Backyard A Backyard Forest For Butterflies And Birds By Connie May, Contributing Columnist As a natural landscape designer and a lover of butterflies, I have planted many wildflower gardens to attract butterflies. Now I also plant backyard forests to attract butterflies. Flowers provide the nectar eaten by adult butterflies, but most butterflies require trees and shrubs to lay their eggs on. Without the specific host plants necessary to nourish their young, butterflies cannot complete their lifecycle. Planting a backyard forest helps ensure butterfly reproduction and attracts more species to your yard. Bird watchers will also want to plant a butterfly forest. Trees and shrubs provide seeds or berries for birds to eat and nesting birds catch caterpillars, butterflies and other small insects to feed their young.
You may think you don’t have room in your back (or front) yard for a forest. But you probably have room for a micro-forest. A micro-forest replicates a young forest where lots of trees grow close together and can be successful even on a small lot. Planting a micro-forest is simple and easy on your budget. Choose a diversity of native trees and shrubs that are adapted to your location and plant them close together - and here’s the hard part - much closer than is usually recommended. You may want to visit a local young forest for inspiration--you will see that the trees are growing very close together. As in a natural forest, competition in a micro-forest is strong. The struggle to survive will be lost by some, but that takes years and the surviving trees will continue to grow long after we are gone. In the meantime, food and habitat are being provided, carbon is being sequestered and you have the wonderful opportunity to watch the growth of a young forest. It is a delight to see (and smell!) the blossoms of a tulip poplar at eye level, to uncurl a spicebush leaf to find a cute caterpillar hiding inside or to watch a hummingbird catch tiny insects for her nestlings. If you are lucky, you may get the rare treat of watching a beautiful butterfly emerge from her chrysalis. In your own backyard! Many native trees and shrubs are available at reasonable prices bare-root or in small sizes. Local nurseries stock some species, others are available via the internet or from catalogs. Small seedlings from the wild or friends’ yards transplant well and you can also plant seeds—the mightiest oak grew from a tiny acorn. Trees grow very fast in their first few years of growth (a redbud can easily grow 5 feet in a year) so you won’t have to wait long to see your backyard forest full of life. Butterflies will lay their eggs on small trees or shrubs--I have seen swallowtail caterpillars on first year plantings. To attract species of butterflies you like, choose the host plants they require to reproduce. Spicebush swallowtail butterflies will only lay their eggs on sassafras or spicebush, giant swallowtails require wafer ash, red cedar is the host plant for olive hairstreak butterflies, etc… Some trees or shrubs, such as oaks and hickories are host plants for many species of butterflies and moths. Some are small and not showy, but they are an important source of food for birds, especially in spring when food is needed for nestlings. An easy way to create a micro-forest in an existing lawn is by the smothering method. Plant the trees and shrubs, then cover the grass between with cardboard or 4-6 layers of newspaper , then a layer of chipped mulch and/or shredded leaves. Chipped mulch can often be obtained free from tree-trimming companies and may include tree seeds and thereby a free source of seedlings. If you visited a young forest for inspiration, you probably noticed that much of the understory was composed of small tree seedlings. You may also have noticed rotting logs and scattered piles of stones. Including these elements in your micro-forest will add visual interest as well as places for butterflies and other insects to overwinter. With a little effort and a little faith you can create a beautiful micro-forest with butterflies, birds and other beautiful things…right in your own backyard! UPCOMING: Trees, shrubs and wildflowers to include in your micro-forest, sources for plants, providing nestboxes for birds, how to raise a butterfly from a caterpillar and more. Please feel free to send your questions, comments and suggestions for future articles to editor@capitallivingky.com. |
