What’s going on with the Wildlife in your Garden?

How many of us dream of having the perfect luscious garden, with colourful butterflies and squirrels and our pets running around? I would love my pet dog to have a playful muddy spot and grass to play on with some butterflies, beetles, and birds flying around. But wait!

Why do we always limit ourselves to butterflies and birds when we think of gardens and green backyards? We may fail to observe but there is so much life around us going about their daily routines. The true meaning of wildlife is itself going extinct as for some of us it just means huge mammals that we can observe on a safari tour or a national park. The Internet defines ‘wildlife’ as undomesticated animal species but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wild in an area without being introduced by humans (and it includes flora too). It can range from small microbes, ants, earthworms, butterflies, birds, and insects to squirrels, chameleons, lizards, and many more.

With a little effort and enthusiasm, you can explore the true meaning of wildlife in your gardens, lawns, and even balcony or roof gardens. After migrating to the city or as humans encroach on their lands, these animals are in search of shelter and food, and our gardens act as the perfect ecosystem for them to thrive. Every animal depends on the soil, it provides them food and habitat.

Some animals like frogs and toads depend on the soil to provide them with water as they absorb it from their skin. Plus it’s a win-win situation you know, you give them your gardens and these animals act as caregivers to keep your surroundings clean. Dragonflies hunt mosquitoes, ants act as natural composters, and many such advantages follow with other species.

 Bangalore is known as the ‘Garden City of India’ and here are some tips to justify this title and have better greenscapes at your home:

- Installing bird feeders and nests in your garden or an external hedge with climbers to make the birds feel safe.

- Not using pesticides and chemicals to grow your garden - Butterflies, bees, and squirrels won’t be attracted to such gardens. Let nature have its way!

- Having a small aquatic ecosystem in your garden. It will attract beautiful dragonflies and you can add fishes to your pond and your knowledge list of wildlife as well.

- Having wooden logs placed in a corner and leaving some areas of your greenscape unattended with long grass to allow small animals to take shelter.

- Creating your own meaning of gardens - as most of us leave our hometowns and come to the city, the natural choice is to opt for high-rise apartments with balconies with no larger space for gardens. We understand that but even if you are able to help some animals thrive, that’s enough! You can build upon your own definition of gardens.

Bangalore offers beautiful weather conditions to observe nature at its best, but as these green patches reduce in the city the heaviest blow will be on the city wildlife, and for us humans, it will be a slow realisation. Thus, the balancing point in such man-made ecosystems is the intelligent human. It is vital that we do our part, speaking about climate change and the habit of most humans being less attentive to nature can sound like a broken record but it is necessary. The maximum impact that one can create will help wildlife thrive!

Authored by Palak Arora, Volunteer at PfA Bangalore