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What to Plant?

Native Plant Resources

Spring 2002

Unlock Your Yard!
Getting Started with Native Plant Gardening

by Nancy Shepherdson

When Marian Thill moved into her house in Morton Grove, it had "the best dandelion patch on the block." So Thill and her husband mowed, fertilized, watered and weed-killed it into submission. That took care of the dandelions, and then some: "We had achieved the best lawn on the block," remembers Thill, "but nothing was living there, nothing was moving." All the birds, bees, butterflies and bugs had disappeared.

That was then. Now, 10 years after Thill decided that there is more to life than a weed-free lawn, she has counted more than 70 species of birds and nearly 20 species of butterflies in her yard. In fact, her whole back yard is a wildlife habitat. But even those with less time — or inclination — for gardening can make their yards a paradise for wild things. "You can even attract wildlife with containers and window boxes," says Thill, who has advised many people to start habitat gardening.

But aren’t the flowers and shrubs already in our yards enough to please the birds and butterflies? Probably not, according to Barbara Ellis, author of Attracting Birds and Butterflies (Houghton Mifflin). "To songbirds, hummingbirds, butterflies and other wildlife, the typical suburban landscape resembles an unfriendly desert," she writes. "Close-cropped lawns, sheared foundation shrubs, and deadheaded flowers mean no place to nest, no food to eat and nowhere to hide."

The good news is that there’s no real trick to attracting more wildlife to your yard. All you have to do is provide the four basic building blocks of backyard habitat: food, water, a place to nurture young and a place to hide from predators.

Dinner and Drinks

Many homeowners have taken the first baby step toward creating a habitat by putting out feeders for birds. But birds, butterflies and bugs from this region will find your yard much more attractive if you put out the food they are genetically programmed to love: the fruits, nectar and seeds of native plants. For songbirds, that generally means planting a variety of native shrubs so that fruit is available at different times of the year. Most such shrubs also produce flowers that attract the insects so beloved by many birds. A good one to start with is serviceberry (or Juneberry), a tall, easy-to-grow bush. There are also certain species of cherry and elderberry that are good for starters. (For more suggested plants for wildlife, see What to Plant?)

Most butterflies, on the other hand, look for large masses of flowers that produce nectar. Here, too, native plants are usually superior to horticultural exotics. These "cultivars" have been bred to devote all their energy to showy flowers and may, in fact, be sterile, producing little food for wildlife. Even just a few native plants will attract butterflies, but if you want to fill your yard with flutter, plant as many as you can. "Plant them in drifts," advises Jim Steffen, ecologist for the Chicago Botanic Garden, suggesting massed areas with dozens of other flowering plants of varying heights that bloom at varying times.

The Bolingbrook yard of Dave and Lorene Jagodzinski has 73 species of prairie plants. Photo by Dave Jagodzinski.

Birds and butterflies also need water and will stick around where it’s provided. Even a birdbath will work, as long as you clean it regularly and keep it filled. But nothing attracts wildlife like running water. Hummingbirds will delight in a spray set up over your birdbath, and you can attract other small birds by placing a rock or stick in the bath to give them a perch. Marian Thill created a moving water feature by simply hanging a plastic container of water in a tree with a pin prick in the bottom and suspending it over a pie tin. "That’s a magnet for birds," she laughs.

Don’t expect butterflies to drink where birds do, though. The best way to offer water to butterflies is with, no kidding, sand. "Butterflies take moisture out of moist sand and are really attracted to it if you mix it with fish emulsion (plant fertilizer)," says Doug Taron, who directs the Butterfly Haven at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum in Chicago.

Wild things also need to feel protected, in order to hang around and raise young in your yard. For birds, that simply means providing lots of places to nest and hide. The more trees (even dead ones) and bushes you have, the more the birds will like it.

Getting Started

So, do you have to take out your whole lawn and replace it with native plants in order to create an effective wildlife habitat? Hardly. "Start small," advises Pat Armstrong, owner of Prairie Sun Consultants, a native plant concern based out of her home in Naperville. "Just a little area (planted in native species) can give you a greater chance of seeing wildlife in your yard." Pat herself, however, believes in doing nothing on a small scale. She has replaced her entire one-third-acre suburban lawn with 300 species of native plants. "There are always new plants to try...this can be a lifetime adventure."

Even a corner of your yard can provide wildlife habitat and colorful native flowers. Photo by Dave Jagodzinski.

Whether or not you aspire to own your own prairie some day, begin with one area of your lawn that has always been a trouble spot, says Tom Vanderpoel, a landscaper and restoration professional in the northwest suburbs. Perhaps it’s a low area that could be receptive to marshland plants, or maybe a shady area where not much grows. "It helps to choose a place where your lawn grass isn’t doing very well," he says. You’ll then want to choose native plants that do well in the sun-soil environment that exists at that spot.

The important thing to remember as you prepare the ground for planting is not to turn over any soil you strip the grass from. That just creates a medium for weeds that will compete with your new native plants. Sowing seeds is the least expensive way to establish your habitat, but also the least immediately rewarding. Most native plant seeds require one or more over-winterings (freeze and thaw cycles) to germinate. As a result, most of those who work with native plants recommend that new gardeners plant "plugs" (seedlings) interspersed with seed. Plant the plugs about a foot apart and mark them so you know what to expect to see there.

Once established, native plantings have the added advantage of seldom needing water and never needing fertilizer, other chemicals or regular mowing. In fact, coddling native plants with such gardening techniques can actually weaken them. "Wild plants are geared to struggle for life," notes Jim Steffen. "It can actually help them to give them poor soil and water conditions."

Beth Laubach, horticulturalist for The Natural Garden, Inc. in St. Charles, recommends planting as soon as possible after April 15, or about the time native plants start greening at the top. "Butterflies aren’t around until it’s warm, but you want your plants up and blooming before they get there." Shrub plant-ings for birds should go in about the same time. Then all you have to do is have a little patience, says Laubach. "These plants are so carefree and easy — just pop them in the ground and wait for the show. If you plant the habitat, they will come."