The Butterfly Garden

Unsurprisingly butterfly gardening is becoming one of the fastest growing trends amongst Keen Gardeners. Not only does the presence of butterflies add joy and life into any garden but they also add an injection of colour.

Once you have decided to create a butterfly garden, the first thing you need to consider is what kind of butterflies are local and native to your area. This can be easily done by contacting your local wildlife refuge or even by studying which butterflies are currently visiting your garden.

Plant your butterfly garden in a warm and sunny area of your garden, but one which is free from strong gusts of wind. Butterflies require warm and wind-free conditions to be able to feed happily. If they have to compete with wind or strong breezes they will simply find somewhere else to feed.

Make sure you place a selection of smooth flat stones in your butterfly garden. As the sun warms up the stone, the butterflies will have somewhere warm to rest inbetween feeds.

As with all living creatures butterflies will require a water source to drink from. You can create one easily by either filling a bucket or container with sand and soaking with water until the sand becomes moist or by adding a mud puddle.

Butterflies tend to feed from two types of plants in particular. One will provide nectar for the adults to feed from and the other will provide a food source for the younger butterflies to eat.

Once again research which plants are native to your area and soil type to avoid planting exotic species which might not be compatible to the local butterflies in your area.

So why not add colour and life into your garden by creating a butterfly garden of your own.