A Beginners Guide To: Transforming Your Garden Into A Butterfly Haven

Love butterflies? Want to help conservation of native species in your region? Then you’ve come to the right website. Today, I will be sharing in this post on how to transform your garden into a butterfly friendly garden for conservation of native species. Let’s dive right in!

Use NO pesticides.

Pesticides kill those unwanted bugs like aphids and mealy bugs, but they kill butterflies and butterfly larvae and pupae too. Instead, you can opt for more sustainable control methods like hand-picking the pests off (wearing gloves, obviously) or spraying the pests with water.

Plant host plants.

Host plants are main part of your butterfly garden. Each species of butterfly has specific plants that they lay their eggs on for their larvae, called caterpillars feed on. Any caterpillar won’t feed on any random plant. So, it is important to research more about the native butterflies in your region you are trying to attract. Search up what plants their caterpillars eat, and plant them. If you are buying plants from the nursery, always ask if they have been treated with pesticide. Don’t just ask if they were grown organically, because many places use organic pesticides on their plants.

Plant Nectaring Plants.

Most species of adult butterflies drink nectar, a sweet, sugary substance from flowers. That’s why we always see butterflies near flowers. Opt for flat-topped flowers and flowers in clusters, which are more attractive to butterflies because they are easy to drink nectar from. Lantanas, coneflowers and snake weed are good choices.

So guys, that is all you need to do to transform your garden into a butterfly haven. See you next time!