Wildlife Friendly Gardens
How to Help Protect Hummingbirds
Plant a native food source
Aloe, yucca, and other trumpet-like flowers work great. For more detailed information and native varieties, please click on one of the links below.
Eliminate the use of pesticides
Hummingbirds not only sip nectar for energy and hydration, they also rely on small bugs like gnats for protein and proper development. Without the gnats and small insects, hummingbirds will not be able to survive. They eat a fourth of their body weight daily, so insecticides not only have a negative effect because the birds eat the poisoned bugs, but the birds can also run out of food.
How to Use Feeders
Keep feeders clean
Backyard feeders can cause more harm than good. If you are going to have a feeder at your home, please make sure you can keep up with the demand of caring for it.
Just like you would not like to drink out of somebody's dirty glass, neither do hummingbirds. Dirty feeders spread disease, and the mold that quickly grows causes fatal upper respiratory infections, making it necessary to clean feeders daily in our extreme temperatures.
How to clean feeders
Please do not use soap. A small amount of soap residue can make the birds ill. Please clean feeders with hot water and a small scrub brush regularly. Most feeders can also be sterilized in boiling water to get the mold that hides underneath or in hard-to-reach areas that can't be seen. You can also use a 10/1 bleach solution or vinegar, but please remember to rinse thoroughly so no residue is left behind.
Please stop using red dye
Unfortunately, red dye is not good for hummingbirds. The food coloring is too much for their systems to process, and it is not necessary to attract them. Sugar substitutes such as honey and organic, unbleached sugars will also harm hummingbirds. Bleached white sugar at a 4:1 ratio is best.
How to Practice Wildlife Friendly Gardening
Use Tulle as an alternative to Bird Netting
Bird netting was never intended to keep birds out of things. It was made to trap things, and it does just that. We've seen birds, lizards, snakes, and everything else tangled up in bird netting, and rabbits and rodents just chew threw it anyway.
An efficient, cost-effective product to keep critters out of the garden is tulle, the same product used for tutus and bridal gowns. It is inexpensive if you purchase it online, and you can easily drape it over plants and secure it down with a few rocks. The fabric is lightweight, allowing the plants to freely grow underneath, and the tight-knit mesh allows sunlight in while protecting tender plants from veggie-eating predators like quail and bunnies without hurting them. Tulle also deters some problematic insects, decreasing the need for chemical alternatives that negatively affect our health. Make sure to remove the tulle when plants start flowering for pollination. The plant is less likely to be eaten after it has grown in size anyway.
Use Aluminum Screening to keep critters out
Aluminum screening: Aluminum screening is inexpensive, keeps critters away, stores up easily, and can be reused. It requires a bit more work and money than tulle but also lasts longer. Simply staple screening to 1x1s and steak it into the ground around the plants or garden area that needs protection.
Wildlife Friendly Alternatives to Bird Netting
Bird netting was never intended to keep birds out of things.
It was made to trap things, and it does just that. We've seen birds, lizards, snakes, and everything else tangled up in bird netting, and rabbits and rodents just chew through it anyway.
An efficient, cost-effective product to keep critters out of the garden is tulle, the same product used for tutus and bridal gowns. It is inexpensive if you purchase it online, and you can easily drape it over plants and secure it down with a few rocks. The fabric is lightweight, allowing the plants to freely grow underneath, and the tight-knit mesh allows sunlight in while protecting tender plants from veggie-eating predators like quail and bunnies without hurting them. Tulle also deters some problematic insects, decreasing the need for chemical alternatives that negatively affect our health. Make sure to remove the tulle when plants start flowering for pollination. The plant is less likely to be eaten after it has grown in size anyway.
Aluminum screening: Aluminum screening is inexpensive, keeps critters away, stores up easily, and can be reused. It requires a bit more work and money than tulle but also lasts longer. Simply staple screening to 1x1s and steak it into the ground around the plants or garden area that needs protection.
Make your own Hummingbird nectar
4 parts water
1 part white sugar
Heat the water up to boiling
Mix / Cool
Store up to 2 weeks in the fridge