Create a Wildlife Habitat Garden (NWF)

[@Dot2TrotsLowCarbLiving]

I unwittingly created a safe place for wildlife when a rabbit made a nest in my raised bed directly under one of my 4 celery plants. I never knew until I harvested 1 of the 4 plants. The mother and her 2 babies were our guests for 2 weeks after I found them. I lost 2 of the celery plants, but I figured the bunnies’ need was greater than mine.

[@tnmtnmorning1178]

💚

[@denniskundinger7815]

Blessings to you

[@LorienGreen]

I got the wildlife certification earlier this year, too, and it makes me feel super proud (even though it's not that hard to obtain). I've had my moments where I questioned the wisdom of encouraging rabbits, chipmunks, and birds to seek out my yard, but watching the birds take baths in the bird bath, and having the chipmunks keep me company is worth the very small amount I've had to share.

[@alliehamilton-calhoun162]

I got mine this year. I've been reported to the city multiple times for being a 'nuisance' yard because my pollinator garden is full of tall plants, and my fruit/ nut shrubs are attracting wildlife that the neighbors don't want crossing the property line.

[@RealBradMiller]

​@@alliehamilton-calhoun162This is why you need to make friends with the neighborhood crows or ravens. Soon, no one will have the eyes to see any animals coming or going. No one's pets or children will be safe. You are the Crow Mother. All shall bow to your greatness. All wildlife shall be free to forage and frolick. 😂😂😂

[@alliehamilton-calhoun162]

@RealBradMiller this cracked me up at first! I remembered, however, that I don't like the crows. They try to manipulate the squirrels into the road in front of on-coming traffic so they can get an easy meal. Back to the 'ol drawing board....

[@ecocentrichomestead6783]

Bat boxes is what I want to put up someday. I made a pond for frogs this spring and have a natural wet land for small birds to bathe. Brush piles - I won't burn what I don't have to. So when I harvest trees, I make brush piles. I call them "habitat piles"

[@tnmtnmorning1178]

Habitat piles😊. I love that! Bat boxes are on my list too! Hoping they help with the mosquitoes!

[@IrisheaglesOne]

I want to do bat boxes as well. If I could house enough to take care of these mosquitoes, Id be thrilled!

[@dogslobbergardens6606]

"Rabbitat" ;)

[@lyndao8300]

Elk, deer, rabbits, tons of birds. We love the wildlife in our yard. I do fence the big guys out of the garden but leave a lot of scraps for them in the compost pile that the deer and elk visit quite often. The rabbits have found their way into the garden and have done some damage, so I created a rabbit friendly garden by the compost pile and just throw spare seeds in there for them to munch on when they germinate. We have two owls that come out every night and protect our garden and I love watching them. Great video. Thank you :)

[@recynd77]

I’m in suburban Los Angeles; like most, I’m on a little 1/4 acre lot. We don’t have much room, but we’ve got loads of hummingbirds, butterflies, lizards (my favorite!), possum, skunk, and coyote.

[@davisc.antony9992]

Real deal cause you are thinking about wildlife even with a small piece of land. I am from Kerala, India.🙏

[@tamarabonet9438]

Thank you! I never knew about that certification that one can get as Wildlife Habitat. We never knew 20 years ago that we would be creating our oasis for the animals and birds, but we built it and they are here everyday and we love it!

[@christineherrmann205]

Certification helps with neighbors who wonder "WTF" when you start taking out your (utterly useless) grass. 😊

[@treebeard7140]

Ever since I grew a natural meadow no insect herbivores have touched the crops. Thank you for getting people excited about being part of the ecosystem again.

[@dogslobbergardens6606]

You said it very well - being PART of the ecosystem. As opposed to battling against it.

[@Dharmacats230]

Thank you! I'm in the midst of transforming .65 acres to wildlife habitat. So far, very rewarding!

[@dogslobbergardens6606]

I didn't even think of it, but it turns out our garden already qualifies for this certification. Thanks for the reminder to go ahead and support this important organization by getting certified (it's very affordable, BTW).

[@boojangles]

This will be our new home school science project for the year! We can already check a few things off the list. Thanks so much for sharing!

[@delbertwells7318]

This is fantastic, and thanks so much for sharing!! I certified my garden this morning. We enjoy watching the birds, squirrels, bunnies, and insects at every meal just outside our dining area. If posting this sign on my property gets even just one neighbor to ask me what it's about, and stirs an interest in them to be a more conscientious steward of the property they own, then it will be one of the best things I will have done for my neighborhood.

[@marcybrooks3425]

This morning I woke up with the word, "Habitat" in my brain and thankfully found your site. I'm looking forward to learning from you. Thanks for sharing.

[@christineherrmann205]

I've been certified for over a year. I have bluebirds in my box again. 😊

[@christineherrmann205]

Oh, red osier dogwood, gray dogwood, elderberry, hazelnut, pagoda dogwood, penstemon, milkweeds, pond, cattails, oaks, maples, raspberries, native herbs like bloodroot, apples, peaches, pears. I'm basically building a food forest.

[@tnmtnmorning1178]

Another great video! I can enthusiastically check all those boxes! We see lots of wildlife; everything from bears, to bobcats, to otters in the pond. So many different birds as well. We've let our property stay mostly wild and my neighbor and i are always adding more native plants, trees, and shrubs to our little Eden. I just love what you're doing, Scott, and the message you are teaching. I recently made a few bird baths by using tree stumps and terra cotta pot saucers. I placed some river rocks in one and a large conch shell in the other so that bees can safely quench their thirst. They are so simple and surprisingly beautiful! Love the concrete leaf bath!! I've been wanting to make stepping stones from some of my large oakleaf hydrangea leaves using the same idea. Sorry for the long comment, but this video got me a little jazzed. Makes me smile thinking about the other good stewards in the world! 😊💚

[@Rapto01R]

Hello! You are such a good person, i love your content! We live on the wineyard hill of a small village in Hungary, and we make the same practices, but from the other people, we get "It is sooo untidy", "Why don't you cut grass?", "You should burn the woody material" and so on. We don't really care, doing the way, what we think is good for the world and people and animals. Our neightbours are beekeepers left and right, and some reason every bee want to drink in our water collecting bin (50L, 13.2 gallon). In hot days, they drink the whole in 3 days :) It is no work filling it, and we love seeing them.

[@OakKnobFarm]

I just certified. Great link Scott!

[@davisc.antony9992]

You are doing a great job by being more natural way to wild life into your garden and also allow wild life to sustain even when you actually steal their habitat for your garden. I Really appreciate your efforts.

[@retroradkat]

Another shelter I would reccomend people putting up in their gardens is a bat house. Bats are very misunderstood but extremely beneficial for your garden and the environment as a whole. You can build one, or buy one online and mount it on a pole or on the side of your house. Do some research on bats as well to dispell any fears you may have of them.

[@GardenerScott]

Absolutely. We built a bat house at the school garden and it was occupied in a few months.

[@lindadavidson2237]

I leave my perennial flowers as is at the end of the season. Birds come and eat the seed off the dried flowers. There's something to be said for having a kind of "messy" garden - the critters love it that way. Thanks for another great video!

[@tnmtnmorning1178]

Me too, Linda! I love seeing goldfinches on the coneflowers at the end of the season!

[@SC-fk9nc]

Excellent work. I would even say that in addition to the benefits and beauty that the wild life brings to our gardens it is our duty of care to provide them the best environental conditions. My food forest/orchard is blessed with the presence of animals like, insects, raptors, kookaburas, parrots, wallabies, frogs, tiger snakes etc. A paradise! 🙂

[@jameskasper6534]

After watching this I realized that I more than qualified and so got my certification. My small yard has a small pond with fish a frog snails and water plants, a bird bath with a solar powered fountain, at least 8 bird houses, 2 bird feeders and suet cages, a log pile, a compost bin and lots and lots of flowers, shrubs and trees of many types etc... I see every day hundreds of birds, many squirrels, chipmunks, and all kinds of pollinators. SO, now I'm getting a nice sign. Cheers Scott and thanks for the information and the link.

[@heidiclark6612]

Thank You for a great video on what to do for a wildlife garden. Its nice to know that I have lots of plants for the bees and butterflies. Also a bee hotel. And I am putting in a water feature soon after seeing your video on it.Let nature work for you.

[@bevbarry9637]

Brush and log piles are usually discouraged here in Australia, too many of the possible inhabitants are deadly or poisonous 😂

[@Wisconsincatmom]

Great video as always. Love the frog statue by the water ❤️

[@hakdov6496]

I have so much wildlife, a hawk hunts in my backyard almost every day in the summers.

[@sammer28]

That's really cool!

[@MsSunstoned]

Great information for people to have. Thanks for all your hard work. I enjoy every video.

[@InisMor]

You covered this important subject so well. Thankyou Scott.

[@karendurston2528]

Enjoyed the video. We’re certified but always improving. My husband built a stone ring for a fire pit and and created a tee-pee shaped brush pile. A ground hog moved in much to our delight. We call our new neighbor Chunk. Obviously, it is no longer a fire pit, but Chunk’s home. We spend summer evenings on our porch enjoying the birds and creatures. Just subscribed to your channel and look forward to watching more of your videos. Thanks!

[@GardenerScott]

Thanks, Karen. I hope Chunk brings a nice balance to your garden. Welcome to the channel!

[@DanCooper404]

I just got certified. Thank you!

[@charlesstock64]

Thanks Gardener Scott. I just got our certification as we had almost all the items checked and double checked. All of our flowers and landscape items are native pollinator plants or berry plants (like service berry and beauty berries, dogwoods) that attract and feed. This year was a good one for mints, bee balms, asters, small sunflowers, prairie clovers, spiderworts, butterfly weeds and figworts. We have about a total of 1/4 acre of milkweed that is native and thriving by brush hogging the other stuff down to help them propagate. Best to you and yours and again thanks for your promoting these concepts and practices.

[@FuzzyGecko]

Its good to note that rattle snakes LOVE wood piles. Just keep an eye out if you need to move it around :)

[@dogslobbergardens6606]

Various spiders too, which depending where you live can range from harmless to deadly. Take caution any time you're messing around in areas where predators like to hide. We need them, but we don't want to get bitten by them.

[@NashvilleMonkey1000]

The other day we discovered just a few mock strawberry plants growing in the back by the fence. It can be a sustainable food source for wildlife~

[@j.b.6855]

Im thinking and planing for the fall garden right now, but also about next year. We had a robin make a nest on a high tree stump between the fences. I also have a lot of birds in the area. Sadly its been way to hot to work in the garden with temps in the 90's and high humidity. So over the winter I am making and adding 4 or 5 bird houses to the back yard. The video has given me other ideas like a bee house that can be created during the colder months in 5b south of Chicago.

[@zukosmom3780]

I make my own suet for the birds. I got the recipe from Birds and Blooms almost 21 years ago

[@dogslobbergardens6606]

Suet is so cool. Growing up in northern Wisconsin, my grandma kept suet out for the birds all winter, as well as regular birdfeeders and plenty flowers during the growing months. She instilled an appreciation for songbirds into our whole family.

[@carolmeadows3401]

I took a workshop through CSU-Ps extension office about native pollenaters before Covid. It was a great resource for what kind of plants to grow around here.

[@JensBrewer]

I found your channel a few months ago; what a treasure! I would like to humbly pass on an audio recommendation to you or your video editor: apply a High Pass Filter (sometimes abbreviated HPF) somewhere between 80hz and 120hz to your microphone (not the music). That will significantly reduce the wind noise in the finished product. If it's not available on the wireless transmitter or receiver, it is certainly available in your video editor. Feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions. Many thanks for sharing all your wisdom!

[@GardenerScott]

Thanks for the suggestion.

[@tiamariajones6634]

Hi from the UK I love your video's, I an a pagan gardener which means I plant and harvest in the natural rhythm and dont force grow anything and i don't use any chemicals at all, I have 5 feeding stations for birds who eat lots of bugs when they are feeding their chicks and I leave one corner of my garden wild I have a resident flock of magpies who keep the pigeons out of the garden I have several patches of wild flowers to attract the insects and pollinators in who are then kept in check by the birds that make my garden home I also have resident bats that roost in the big tree behind my garden. Its not difficult to garden with nature in mind and often you dont have to do anything at all

[@carloscortes6669]

Great video Scott. I’m on board with this idea. And just got my chip drop from your other idea.

[@rosem6604]

I think what you're doing is awesome! We have very little space and we rent so we feed the birds and provide water (which feral cats and others can drink too).

[@farmermarshall]

I probably won't get certified but I'm not to far from reaching their standards. I even had two sets of new baby birds in my birdhouse! Loving nature.

[@leefield2382]

I’m going to have to try the leaf water bowl idea

[@juneshannon8074]

Max Field the mosquitoes will love it!

[@KilisKitchen]

We have a few pollinator waterer locations and they are in high demand - especially in these summer days

[@jennyh8392]

Um I love this video! Your tone is very comforting. You can tell you love what your doing! I am going to w.ork on getting certified..

[@tranthiduyen615]

Nhà anh có khu vườn rộng lớn.và đẹp quá

[@jessstuart7495]

I dunno, when a deer comes along at 5AM and splits open a 20 lbs water-mellon you've been babying for a month, I start dreaming about venison.

[@christineherrmann205]

That's fair. I mean, we've done the deer a huge disservice by killing off all the wolves. The watermelon pay the price.

[@dogslobbergardens6606]

To be honest when I first saw "wildife garden" in the title I immediately thought "food plot for deer hunting" lol.

[@sammer28]

I'm in a Canadian National park, so I can't really do a whole lot for the wildlife. Not that they need it around here. Water source and bee house might not ruffle Parks Canada's feathers though. Nice wild flowers around the yard is a bonus

[@dogslobbergardens6606]

If you live in humid areas you will *definitely* want some sort of pump to aerate water in large birdbaths or small ponds. Around here (East TN) a bucket of water left open and stagnant for a couple days is pretty much guaranteed to fill up with breeding mosquitoes - and a LOT of them can come from one batch of eggs.

[@Dee.C]

I have several of these around my yard.

[@francesca2173]

Awesome video!

[@PrettyAliceNight]

Fantastic video! I didn’t know you could get certified for this.

[@chanellekirch]

Happy belated earth hour day!

[@tgif1207]

Seed and suet feeders are great as supplements, but I TOTALLY agree that providing the plants, fruits, berries and seeds is MUCH more beneficial! I often see seed-eating birds and hummingbirds pass up my feeders for the naturally growing food sources!!! Hummers were always all over my monarda and lantana instead of my feeders.

[@docAwfulMD]

great video scott thank you!

[@mrrestsyoutubechannel800]

This is one awesome video!! 😁

[@victoriahirsch6619]

You are great, thank you!

[@yvoennsche]

I have been growing milkweed for the monarchs and a few weeks back my neighbor thanked me for it. Apparently they got milkweed that seeded in their backyard and now they have a lot of monarchs too. Maybe I should start seedlings and distribute them everywhere to encourage more monarchs.

[@tirusew]

I liked some of recommendations but wouldn’t have water pool for some insects that attracts mosquitoes which is what happens. Some of your recommendations are good. Thanks for hard work.

[@SamanthaIrish-t8k]

If the water is moving, mosquitoes won't breed in it. Just have a fountain or waterfall.

[@radhiani]

aku jadi subscribe chanel gardener scott karena rekomendasi dan sering di sebutkan di chanel kebun organik pak rinoto jawa

[@GardenerScott]

Terima kasih. Saya menyambut Anda.

[@Dee.C]

If you are wanting to conserve on water , do you have a rain catchment system? I have some simple , home made ones and a big 375 gallon tote in a cage with a spigot added to it. I can catch and store about 1500 gallons right now. I plan to add more water catchment tanks next year .

[@christineherrmann205]

Unfortunately, in some arid areas, it's actually illegal to catch water (which, to be clear, I think is nuts even as I understand it).

[@GardenerScott]

I collect some but it is not legal in my state (Colorado) to have a collection system beyond 50 gallons.

[@NashvilleMonkey1000]

The wilder the area the faster mantises can grow, but if the area gets so wild that the cats are hiding in the middle of the day, then it's too wild~ Also keep the water clean to prevent mosquitoes~ Also brush piles that grow too big can be hazardous to animals living in them, especially never throw logs or giant branches on top of a pile, as there are likely habitators inside~

[@mattandstephsmith]

Our cilantro just wilted. We had it in full sun and watered it once every three days. It was in a smallish pot but was doing really well until 3 days ago when it started to wilt, today when I checked on it it was completely dead. I'm sad because I was going to let it seed. Do you have any idea why it died?

[@GardenerScott]

In my area I have to water cilantro twice a day in full sun. I'm guess it didn't get enough water.

[@mattandstephsmith]

Thank you so much!

[@Poopmacheyne]

Thank you so much for your videos! I have yet to start my garden, but I am putting a plan in place. Are you still answering questions sent to your gardenerscott.com site?

[@rockinstrawberries]

This is my dream… But first to actually have a yard… 😅

[@bergfridskaaradias2071]

check - check - check ... but the question I'm unable to find an answer to on NWF's website is whether certification (and sign shipping) is available outside the US (Norway in my case). Anyone know? I'm unable to find a local equivalent here.

[@GardenerScott]

NWF is a U.S. organization. I know Canada has a similar one. You might find a Scandinavian equivalent.

[@ralph601]

I like wildlife but they do not like me. Just kidding. I have most of what you speak of in my yard but the other night the possum struck again eating half of two cantaloupes and some tomatoes. I am thinking of harvesting the others when they are not quite ripe. Can I ripen them indoors? I have lots of bees and both my milkweeds leaves have been eaten but I see new growth. Any suggestions?

[@tnmtnmorning1178]

Hopefully they've been eaten by monarch caterpillars. That's exactly what you want! 🦋

[@GardenerScott]

Much of what we grow will ripen indoors but it depends on the fruit. Tomatoes will ripen well.

[@dorothytyler7011]

Leaving water outside up here in the mountains is not good! Because some of the wildlife is pretty -- well -- wild!

[@theoverworkedgardener5648]

I definitely have some rascally rabbit. But they don't hold a candle to 14 goats lol

[@anpanek]

Where in Colorado do you live?

[@GardenerScott]

I'm in Colorado Springs.

[@amandavhb1630]

My neighbor catches squirrels . It makes me sad. I always think of wildlife as part of the beauty.

[@dogslobbergardens6606]

Well, there's definitely such a thing as *too much* of a good thing. Squirrels can be invasive pests like anything else if they get out of control. Trying to find balance is the key.

[@monicam.8006]

I have tons of wildlife in my garden, so if anyone wants some, I will gladly send you all the squirrels, chipmunks, red-breasted robins, cardinals, blue jays, finches, and every other animal I have. I cannot keep seed on the ground because of those creatures! I've even found baby snakes and rabbits. Did you know that baby snakes look like worms? They just have forked tongues and move like snakes. I talked to some local gardeners, and they said the best thing to do is to hang up old CD's off of trees. I thought that was the newest version of yarn bombing, but supposedly it keeps away most of the blasted creatures.

[@monicam.8006]

I am going back to indoor container gardening next year. I was even making a mental list of how indoor container gardening is so much easier and fun than outdoor gardening is.

[@TheNapalmFTW]

I was always taught not to feed the birds during the spring and summer. They need to find natural food and not become dependant on us. Winter is a different matter though

[@sunnyday7843]

We live in bear country so do the same - full bird feeders in hibernation season .

[@ohske]

☺️👍👍👍👌♥️

[@sefman5851]

Isn't it ridiculous that you need to explain this to people who supposedly have a high school education. 21st century. The real dark ages. Also, 35 dollars for a Chinese t-shirt. Good luck Mr Woke.

[@Jamescityboygardening]

I've made three bird houses along with bird feeders. I've even put in the back of my Yarden feed and water station for the squirrels. Hoping to keep them out of food sanctuary, next summer.