Why Certify?

My husband had a hard time understanding why I wanted my yard certified by the National Wildlife Federation, he was worried that someone would come out and inspect things, and just really is not a plant person.

I decided this was something I wanted to do for the planet, just one small step. Now I am encouraging others to get their yard certified also. Then benefits aren't just for the wildlife, but you benefit so much also.

The first thing you need to do to certify your yard is to take a look at what you already have and decide if your yard meets the 4 basic requirements and if you don't, what do you need to add to your yard. You don't need a huge piece of property either, birds and butterflies will come to the smallest yard and sometimes they are the ones that need help the most .

First off is food, are there any plants that provide berries in your yard, many of the native plants in your yard already provide that, so check for those in your yard. Flowers provide nectar and pollen for the butterflies, and how can you go wrong with more flowers in your yard. Even a pot of flowers can provide food for a hungry butterfly. Next do you have host plants for your native butterflies, those really bring more butterflies to your yard since the females search those out when searching for a place to leave eggs. Of course there is always the bird feeders, and those attract lots of birds.

Next is water, that can be an existing pond, you can put in a small pond, or even a birdbath. It is that simple, you just need to clean and fill the birdbath on a daily basis. One note on birdbaths, forget the fancy resin ones, they look nice, but don't seem to be made to actually go outside in the sun and hold water, they tend to start leaking and cracking. The best one I have found, just used an old saucer from a pot, this one happens to be concrete, but a glazed one would work fine as long as it holds water.

Next is a place to raise young, that can be a large tree, if you have local birds that use houses, put up a few, a pond is a place for frogs to raise young, the host plants for the butterflies is a place to raise young.

The last requirement is cover. Do you have large bushes where a bird can hide from a predator? You can build a brush pile for reptiles to hide under, and this doesn't have to be ugly, you can plant a vine over it, then it also supplies food for butterflies and birds if there are seeds on it.

You can go the National Wildlife Federation and download their application and see exactly what you need to do to certify your yard. Also if you just can't do your yard, maybe you can encourage someone else to do their yard and help them out. Every bit helps and you will enjoy knowing you did something to help the planet and wildlife.

If you do decide after reading this to get your yard certified, please let me know, I have set a goal of trying to get others to have their yard certified.