9 Fresh Design Ideas From Wildlife-Friendly Gardens
Set up your garden to provide food, water and shelter for birds, bees, butterflies and more without compromising style
Having a wildlife-friendly garden doesn’t mean you need to let everything grow wild — although you can. There are plenty of ways to make even the most stylish, ordered and contemporary landscapes attractive to pollinators and other beneficial wildlife. With smart plant choices and a few design moves, you can increase both the biodiversity of your yard and its overall visual appeal.
Take a look at the following good-looking designs, all bursting with color and design ideas that will lend a helping hand to local wildlife.
Take a look at the following good-looking designs, all bursting with color and design ideas that will lend a helping hand to local wildlife.
Planting a mass of two or three species of flowers in the border also makes a big visual impact and creates a bed that’s easy for pollinators to spot. Other pollinator-friendly plants to consider for a border:
- Catmint (Nepeta spp.)
- Lemon thyme (Thymus x citriodorus, USDA zones 5 to 10; find your zone)
- Sweet alyssum (Lobularia maritima, annual in all zones)
- Coreopsis (Coreopsis spp.)
- Common yarrow (Achillea millefolium, zones 3 to 9)
- Cleveland sage (Salvia clevelandii, zones 8 to 11)
- Lantana (Lantana spp.)
- Lavender (Lavandula spp.)
- Bee balm (Monarda spp.)
- Sage (Salvia spp.)
¿Estás buscando a un profesional para tu próxima reforma en casa?
Encuentra en Houzz al mejor profesional para tu proyecto
Encuentra en Houzz al mejor profesional para tu proyecto
2. Build in a Bug Hotel
Many bees and other winged insects seek out shelter in nooks and crannies, such as in the bark in tree trunks or fallen logs. You may not have either of these features in your garden, but adding an insect hotel is an easy way to draw beneficial bugs to your garden and add an interesting textural element to your space.
For example, the designers of this wildlife-friendly backyard in Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, embedded sections of hollow branches and small twigs into a stacked concrete wall. The result is an interesting design from a pattern and textural perspective as well as a bee-friendly resting spot.
Many bees and other winged insects seek out shelter in nooks and crannies, such as in the bark in tree trunks or fallen logs. You may not have either of these features in your garden, but adding an insect hotel is an easy way to draw beneficial bugs to your garden and add an interesting textural element to your space.
For example, the designers of this wildlife-friendly backyard in Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, embedded sections of hollow branches and small twigs into a stacked concrete wall. The result is an interesting design from a pattern and textural perspective as well as a bee-friendly resting spot.
In this yard in New York, the designers replaced the back fence with a contemporary gabion wall made of metal cages filled with sections of logs. The wall serves as a interesting structural barrier at the backside of the garden and provides a habitat space for beneficial insects.
3. Choose Flowers With Wildlife in Mind
Bursting with life, color and variety, this garden is appealing to people and wildlife. A mix of native flowers — like North American native purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea, zones 3 to 9) — and pollinator-friendly species of perennials, annuals and ornamental grasses creates a visual feast that acts as a buffet for wild birds, bees, butterflies and other insects.
Designwise, the diversity in bloom colors, forms and bloom time create a garden that is interesting and dynamic throughout the season.
Bursting with life, color and variety, this garden is appealing to people and wildlife. A mix of native flowers — like North American native purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea, zones 3 to 9) — and pollinator-friendly species of perennials, annuals and ornamental grasses creates a visual feast that acts as a buffet for wild birds, bees, butterflies and other insects.
Designwise, the diversity in bloom colors, forms and bloom time create a garden that is interesting and dynamic throughout the season.
Even a small front yard benefits from a diverse mixed planting that includes flowering bulbs, annuals, herbs and perennials. The variety creates a charming cottage garden look and offers plenty of foraging opportunities for visiting birds, bees and butterflies.
4. Embrace Meadow Gardens
Working in swaths of meadow-like plantings brings a romantic, carefree feel to the garden. Plus, using a variety of flowering perennials, natives and ornamental grasses that set seeds provides wild creatures with more sources of food, shelter and nest-building materials than traditional ornamental beds.
Working in swaths of meadow-like plantings brings a romantic, carefree feel to the garden. Plus, using a variety of flowering perennials, natives and ornamental grasses that set seeds provides wild creatures with more sources of food, shelter and nest-building materials than traditional ornamental beds.
5. Plant in Clusters
Flowers clustered into clumps are easier for pollinators to spot than individual plants scattered through the yard. In small gardens, aim to plant flowering annuals and perennials in groups of three or five plants. In larger gardens, make clumps about 3 feet in diameter, or arrange plants in even larger swaths. Grouping flowers also makes sense designwise, as clumps and drifts have a soothing visual appeal in the landscape.
Flowers clustered into clumps are easier for pollinators to spot than individual plants scattered through the yard. In small gardens, aim to plant flowering annuals and perennials in groups of three or five plants. In larger gardens, make clumps about 3 feet in diameter, or arrange plants in even larger swaths. Grouping flowers also makes sense designwise, as clumps and drifts have a soothing visual appeal in the landscape.
6. Add a Water Feature
Backyard water features are a win-win for everyone: They provide a clean water source for visiting wildlife and a soothing feature to your landscape design. Backyard ponds, natural streams, bird baths and small recirculating fountains all provide a drinking spot for wild birds; butterflies, bees and other insects; small mammals, such as hedgehogs and rabbits; and lizards, frogs and other creatures.
Backyard water features are a win-win for everyone: They provide a clean water source for visiting wildlife and a soothing feature to your landscape design. Backyard ponds, natural streams, bird baths and small recirculating fountains all provide a drinking spot for wild birds; butterflies, bees and other insects; small mammals, such as hedgehogs and rabbits; and lizards, frogs and other creatures.
Birds and insects often prefer drinking from a shallow water source, rather than a deep pool. A shallow bird bath or a plant saucer filled with water would suit as a water source. Whatever water feature you choose, just be sure to keep the water clean and avoid chlorine-based water additives in fountains.
Shop for fountains on Houzz
Shop for fountains on Houzz
7. Enclose Garden Spaces With Year-Round Foliage
Well-designed gardens make use of plenty of evergreen plants, as they add structure and year-round interest. They also surround areas of the garden with lush foliage, giving an inviting, cozy feeling to garden rooms and outdoor seating areas. Evergreen hedges and trees also benefit garden wildlife by providing small animals with shelter and quick places to hide.
Hedgers and Edgers: The 10 Best Shrubs for Structure
Well-designed gardens make use of plenty of evergreen plants, as they add structure and year-round interest. They also surround areas of the garden with lush foliage, giving an inviting, cozy feeling to garden rooms and outdoor seating areas. Evergreen hedges and trees also benefit garden wildlife by providing small animals with shelter and quick places to hide.
Hedgers and Edgers: The 10 Best Shrubs for Structure
8. Include Wildlife-Sensitive Outdoor Lighting
Not only does subtle outdoor lighting look better, it’s also kinder to wildlife. Skip the bright floodlights in the landscape — they look harsh and can throw off the natural rhythms of migratory birds and nocturnal creatures like hedgehogs, bats and moths. Instead, opt for more subdued, downcast lights, like inset stair lights that illuminate the step without casting light across the yard.
In cases when you need bright lights for safety reasons, use motion detectors.
Not only does subtle outdoor lighting look better, it’s also kinder to wildlife. Skip the bright floodlights in the landscape — they look harsh and can throw off the natural rhythms of migratory birds and nocturnal creatures like hedgehogs, bats and moths. Instead, opt for more subdued, downcast lights, like inset stair lights that illuminate the step without casting light across the yard.
In cases when you need bright lights for safety reasons, use motion detectors.
Some environmental groups, like the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, provide lists of wildlife-certified lights that fulfill a set of criteria that reduces harm to wildlife.
Learn more about how to use wildlife-friendly landscape lighting
Learn more about how to use wildlife-friendly landscape lighting
Rocky Mountain penstemon (Penstemon strictus), a western U.S. native, produces beautiful blooms that welcome wildlife.
9. Work in Good-Looking Natives
Not all native plants are created equal, in terms of either supporting wildlife or looking good in average-sized gardens. Choose plants that offer beautiful blooms, attractive seeds, foliage or plant form. Your best bet would be to visit a native plant nursery in your area for garden-friendly varieties.
To get started, here are a few to choose from:
How to Find the Right Native Plants for Your Yard
9. Work in Good-Looking Natives
Not all native plants are created equal, in terms of either supporting wildlife or looking good in average-sized gardens. Choose plants that offer beautiful blooms, attractive seeds, foliage or plant form. Your best bet would be to visit a native plant nursery in your area for garden-friendly varieties.
To get started, here are a few to choose from:
- Cleveland sage (Salvia clevelandii)
- Flowering currant (Ribes sanguineum)
- Texas ranger (Leucophyllum frutescens)
- Milkweed (Asclepias spp.)
- Firecracker penstemon (Penstemon eatonii)
- Wild lilac (Ceanothus spp.)
- Carolina jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirens)
- Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)
- Eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis)
- Bluebell bellflower (Campanula rotundifolia)
How to Find the Right Native Plants for Your Yard
You can also treat a native plant as an ornamental specimen. Native bees and butterflies love California-native wild lilac (Ceanothus spp.), but the plants can grow into unruly shrub-trees up to 25 feet tall and wide.
While not all gardens can accommodate a large-scale wild lilac, many more would have room for a well-behaved one along a wall. Try training one, like Ceanothus ‘Ray Hartman’ pictured here, as a showy espalier.
While not all gardens can accommodate a large-scale wild lilac, many more would have room for a well-behaved one along a wall. Try training one, like Ceanothus ‘Ray Hartman’ pictured here, as a showy espalier.
Your turn: How have you turned your backyard into a haven for wildlife? Show us in the Comments.
More on Houzz
Browse more Houzz garden guides
Find a landscape designer or architect near you
Shop for more outdoor products
More on Houzz
Browse more Houzz garden guides
Find a landscape designer or architect near you
Shop for more outdoor products
Planting a mass of bee- and butterfly-friendly species alongside an edible garden functions both as a pretty border and draws pollinators close to crops — important for food production. You could plant this border in a looser cottage garden style or in a more modern geometric planting arrangement.
The designer of this front yard in Wisconsin, opted for the latter, planting allium, sesleria and coneflower in a contemporary checkerboard pattern that runs the length of the entry path. Pollinators favor the nectar of all, and bees in particular recognize the violet-purple of the blooms.
Find a landscape designer or architect on Houzz