Action Tips: Make Your Backyard Biodiverse

Help encourage species from becoming threatened and endangered. Conserve natural resources that are readily available in your yard and the yards of others while you mow and landscape.

• Mow less often. Keeping your lawn tall allows the grass to retain more water and shades the soil from the brutal sun.
• Water wisely. You want your lawn to be hydrated, but you don’t want to drown it. Limit watering to three times a week (less if rain is lurking).
• Go au natural. Poisoning grass with hardcore fertilizers is not the way to go if you want to make it look luscious. Apply grass clippings or leaves to your grass if you want it to retain moisture. Don’t apply too much, though; using too much might make the soil a bit acidic.
• Make a mini meadow. Map out an area of grass that doesn’t need to be mowed, add native seeds and let it grow. Your new meadow will provide seeds and nectar for birds, butterflies, bees and other pollinators.
• Give back to critters. Maintain a birdbath to keep birds clean and hydrated, or build a brush pile to give housing to birds and other small animals. Set up an extreme rain garden that absorbs runoff from your roof to spruce up your yard.

Resources provided and consulted by The Humane Society of the United States.