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Backyard Habitats

Our Backyard Habitat program focuses on properties with limited space.  From well-maintained nesting structures to butterfly gardens, there are many habitat projects available that will attract a diversity of wildlife to any landscape. 

Using native plants attracts native songbirds and other wildlife.  Native plants are adapted to the Eastern Shore weather, insects, and other local growing conditions.  They require no insecticide (which is great for the Bay) while offering a more natural setting for our native wildlife.

Here’s information on mosquitoes, spraying, and what you can do on your property. 

If you are interested in a property evaluation, please complete this form and email it to us at info@cheswildlife.org

More Backyard Habitat Tips*

Benefits of having a Buffer Strip in your backyard
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Instructions to make a puddling structure
Black-capped chickadee
mud season
Rake leaves into garden beds, not to bags.
Mud Daubers
Suburban Wildlife Habitat Design
Keep violets in your yard
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Instructions to make a puddling structure
click on image to read more
Black-capped chickadee
click on image to read more
mud season
click on image to read more
Rake leaves into garden beds, not to bags.
click on image to read more
Mud Daubers
click on image to read more
Suburban Wildlife Habitat Design
click on image to read more
Keep violets in your yard
click on image to read more
Benefits of an Oak Tree
click on image to read more
Dragonfly lifecycle
click on image to read more

Wildlife Calendar

  • Leave seed heads and stalks standing to provide food and shelter for birds and insects.
  • Avoid heavy pruning—many creatures overwinter in stems and leaf litter.
  • Plan your pollinator-friendly garden for spring (choose native, non-neonic seeds and plants).
  • Clean and repair birdhouses before nesting season.
  • Assess the winter cover on your property. Do you have evergreens? Thickets? Brush piles?
  • Plant native trees and shrubs if the soil is workable.
  • Keep leaf litter intact; it shelters overwintering pollinators.
  • Notice where you see birds shelter in the snow. Establish more of that thick habitat if your landscape lacks it. 
  • Control unwanted woody vegetation in your meadows with cut stump treatment, or frilling. Call CWH for information
  • Plant spring ephemerals and native trees and shrubs, like redbud and serviceberry.
  • Reinstall Purple Martin houses.
  • Install bee nesting tubes or leave natural cavities for female bees in cut-back dead flower stalks
  • Begin composting yard waste instead of bagging it.
  • Mow half of your meadow areas.
  • Go to a woodcock dancing area and watch these birds perform (perhaps Pickering Creek in Easton, MD)
  • Sow select native wildflower seeds (ensure they’re neonicotinoid-free).
  • Avoid insecticides and rodent poisons—pollinators are emerging and highly vulnerable.
  • Plan a shade bed or pollinator garden where you may have lawn.
  • Put up your hummingbird feeder and keep it clean
  • Delay hedge trimming—birds may be nesting.
  • Add native perennials for continuous blooms (milkweed, coneflower, bee balm).
  • Provide shallow water dishes with stones for bees and butterflies.
  • Control Canada Thistle (Cirsium arvense) in your meadow.
  • Drawdown wetlands for shorebird migration and moist soil plant establishment.
  • Avoid broadcast weed control or insecticide products on your lawn; protect pollinators and soil health. Spot treat unwanted plants when needed.
  • Let clover and dandelions bloom; they’re vital nectar sources.
  • Mulch lightly to conserve moisture but leave bare patches for ground-nesting bees.
  • Control johnsongrass in your meadow.
  • Plant nectar-rich natives for butterflies (milkweed, black-eyed Susan, blazing star, mints).
  • Keep birdbaths and pollinator water stations clean and filled.
  • Resist mowing meadows or wild patches until at least Thanksgiving—let them thrive.
  • Plant late-blooming natives (goldenrod, asters) to fuel migrating pollinators.
  • Collect seeds from native plants to share or replant.
  • Avoid chemical lawn treatments—wildlife are active.
  • Leave native grasses, fallen leaves, seed heads, and stalks. They provide critical overwintering habitat, providing food and shelter for birds and insects.
  • Plant native shrubs and trees for fall berries and shelter.
  • Reduce outdoor lighting to help migrating birds.
  • Rake leaves into garden beds instead of bagging—natural mulch/compost and insect shelter.
  • Clean out bird baths and feeders for winter readiness.
  • Leave native grasses standing for cover and food.
  • Adjust water control structures to reflood wetlands.
  • Delay mowing meadows until after Thanksgiving to protect overwintering insects, turtles, winter bird habitat, etc. Only mow 50% of your meadow each year.
  • Plant spring bulbs (choose pollinator-friendly varieties).
  • Provide suet and seed feeders for winter birds.
  • Keep bird feeders clean to prevent the spread of disease.
  • Leave brush and log piles with leaf litter for hibernating wildlife.
  • Reflect on the year and plan new native plantings for wildlife in the upcoming year.

* Courtesy of Kindness for All Living Beings, Simply Green Thumbs, and Guardians of Nature