sand garden - Ask Extension
I cannot find the place where I read that it;s a good idea to have a dish with sand to attract native birds and butterflies. Can you help me find out...
Knowledgebase
sand garden #868964
Asked May 17, 2024, 9:04 PM EDT
I cannot find the place where I read that it;s a good idea to have a dish with sand to attract native birds and butterflies. Can you help me find out how to made a sand little garden, please. Thanks a lot
hilia
rockville, md.
I do have a bird bath and try to encourage native plants, but there are several very invasive ones that come from my neighbors' gardens.
Montgomery County Maryland
Expert Response
Hello Hilia,
Sources of moisture and nutrients (like in wet clay) can be valuable for many organisms like bees and butterflies, but they tend to seek different sources to meet their needs, so one garden feature might not attract both. There is no one set way to create such a feature, though many gardeners find it easy to use a shallow bird bath basin filled with either damp sand, muddy clay soil, or just water with enough stones that an insect can land on a dry spot and sip water from the edge. Some butterflies "mud puddle," where males (mostly) obtain salt and other nutrients from damp ground, so even a patch of bare soil in the garden might satisfy their needs. Bees and wasps generally get the moisture they need from the flowers they visit, but can also sip water from puddles (natural or artificial) if it doesn't require them landing on the water itself.
The Xerces Society has a brief guide to making a water source in their article "If You’re Thirsty, They’re Thirsty: Make A Simple Water Source To Support Pollinators" that might be helpful. The National Wildlife Federation also has a flier providing some ideas: "How to Provide Water in Monarch Gardens."
Miri
Sources of moisture and nutrients (like in wet clay) can be valuable for many organisms like bees and butterflies, but they tend to seek different sources to meet their needs, so one garden feature might not attract both. There is no one set way to create such a feature, though many gardeners find it easy to use a shallow bird bath basin filled with either damp sand, muddy clay soil, or just water with enough stones that an insect can land on a dry spot and sip water from the edge. Some butterflies "mud puddle," where males (mostly) obtain salt and other nutrients from damp ground, so even a patch of bare soil in the garden might satisfy their needs. Bees and wasps generally get the moisture they need from the flowers they visit, but can also sip water from puddles (natural or artificial) if it doesn't require them landing on the water itself.
The Xerces Society has a brief guide to making a water source in their article "If You’re Thirsty, They’re Thirsty: Make A Simple Water Source To Support Pollinators" that might be helpful. The National Wildlife Federation also has a flier providing some ideas: "How to Provide Water in Monarch Gardens."
Miri
Thanks you so much.
On May 20, 2024, at 10:55 AM, Ask Extension <<personal data hidden>> wrote:
You're welcome.
