Transforming yards into
Vibrant Ecosystems
Reintroduce Native plants back into their ecosystem
At Backyard Habitats we are dedicated to bringing wildlife back into our ecosystem. Due to urban development, misuse of fertilizers and pesticides, soil erosion and water-shedding issues we have lost a large amount of native wildlife. Wildlife that has evolved in our ecosystem for thousands of years.
But its not all doom and gloom there’s still hope. There’s still much that we can do to bring nature back and it starts with our own yards. Yard by yard we can bring back native plants which in turn will bring back the insects that are the base of our food web. Primarily soft bodied insects like caterpillars that many animals prey upon.
Starting with the caterpillars
Caterpillars are especially important to the rearing of many baby birds. According to entomologist Doug Tallamy, a Carolina chickadee brings 350 to 570 caterpillars to its nest each day (every three minutes) while feeding its young. This amounts to 6,000 to 9,000 caterpillars in total over the course of a typical 16-day nesting period. The Carolina chickadee is only weighs .36 ounces, so imagine the amount of caterpillars a larger bird needs to feed its young.
To increase the amount of caterpillars we need to bring back the native plant species that they have evolved with. Plants have natural defenses so that they are not eaten, over thousands of years insects have evolved with these defenses and learned how to get around them. These have become host plants. You may have heard of the most popular example of this with the monarch (pictured below) and the milkweed (pictured above) or Asclepias genus.
Backyard Habitats is here to help
Through extensive research we have created a database that is specific to our ecosystem here in northwest Ohio. Native plants that serve as hosts to hundreds of lepidoptera (butterflies, skippers and moths). Perennial plants that require little maintenance once established. Also adding to the aesthetic of your yard.
The database includes bloom times, color, height, texture, space required, propagation techniques and so much more. We want to help you build a beautiful ecosystem right in your yard. Allowing you to pick the native plants that best suit you, while attracting wildlife back into your yard!
We have to start changing the way we landscape our yards. Its estimated that lawns (non native grasses) alone take up around 50 million acres of land in the U.S.. This is more than the total area of corn fields in the U.S., and near the same amount if not more of the 52 million acres of national parks in the U.S. Between cornfields, urban development (that includes non native introduced species of plants, that suffocate the natives) and lawns we barely have any natural areas left for our wildlife! If we all reduce our lawns and start planting beneficial native plants we can start to reestablish our ecosystems and protect or food web!!!!
Join Us in Bringing Native Plants back to the Toledo Area
Start your exciting garden transformation journey with Backyard Habitats, where we assist you in cultivating a thriving outdoor space using native plants.
About Us
Born and raised in Toledo, Ohio, owner and founder John White started Backyard Habitats as a way to give back. To help educate and empower those that are looking for a way to be more self sufficient or just enjoy fresh herbs and vegetables.
At Backyard Habitats we also want to give back to nature. Our ecosystems have been taken over by non native plant species that have over run the native plant species. Without the native plants the wildlife that has co-evolved with them for thousands of years are at risk of extinction.
Growing vegetable and herb gardens can provide a very healthy and rewarding lifestyle, free of chemicals and high grocery prices. Gardening is about working with the earth instead of just taking. Through education of native plants we can start to replace what we have taken away. That is and will always be the mission at Backyard Habitats!
Happy Gardening Friends!!
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