A unique kind of gardening is gardening for wildlife. You can apply these techniques to your garden and aim to attract and sustain desirable wildlife. Butterflies and moths make a garden really come alive and help nourish our delight in the natural world. You can try to attract some of the world’s loveliest creatures by the use of native plants in your landscape.
Attracting butterflies to your garden can be easy if you keep the following points in mind:
With your gardening you should limit or eliminate pesticide use, especially insecticides, because butterflies are insects. Many insecticides do not discriminate between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ insects. This includes organic pesticides such as BT, a popular insecticide used to control unwanted caterpillars and mosquitoes. The populations of many butterfly species have been reduced by insecticide sprays to control gypsy moths and mosquitoes.
In addition to food, butterflies need shelter, water, warmth, and minerals. Mud puddles, moist soil or sand, rotting fruit, tree sap, and dung are good sources of minerals and moisture. Sheltered sunlit spots such as rocks or a patch of sand are good areas for butterflies to bask in on cooler days.