GardenMaid| Location and Design for a Butterfly Garden

Location and Design

Full sun.
The first step in attracting butterflies to your garden is a very sunny location. Butterflies love the sun and avoid shady, cooler spots. The plants they prefer like similar growing conditions. Butterflies are cold-blooded creatures and they need the sun's warmth to store the energy they require for flight. Look at areas around your yard that have at least six hours of sun each day.

Sheltered and quiet.
Have you noticed that you don't see many butterflies on a windy day? That is because butterflies rarely fly when it's windy. They will also have trouble feeding if your garden is too exposed to wind. Butterflies prefer out of the wind, quiet sites where they won't be disturbed while feeding. Try to choose an open site, visible from your windows and away from busy areas.

Water and a puddling place.
Water and soil contain the mineral salts that butterflies need. That is why you will often see them gathered around a mud puddle eating and drinking. This activity is called puddling. You can create a puddling place in your garden with a patch of moist sand or wet mud. A simple way to create it is to place a shallow pan or dish in the soil and fill it with coarse sand. Add water to keep it damp. The edges or rim can even be covered with flat stones to create a basking area.

Other Elements
Consider adding other landscaping elements like a stone wall, gravel path or rock garden within your butterfly garden. Butterflies love to bask in the morning sun in such areas. If you watch them on a cool morning, you can sometimes catch them basking in the morning sun with their backs turned toward the sun. They are using their body like a solar panel to collect the warmth from the sun.

Avoid pesticides
Butterflies are very sensitive to pesticides. The "greener" your yard and garden, the more butterflies you will attract.

More Articles in this Section

●Nectar Trees and Shrubs
●Butterfly Host Plants
●Annual Nectar Flowers
●Nectar and Host Plants
●Wildflower Nectar Plants