The Sound of a Living Backyard: Why Native Plants Bring More Life to Your Yard
- Cathy Tiffany
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
Five houses away, the night was almost silent.
In our backyard, it was singing.
What have we done differently that allows all this life to exist in our suburban yard?
Let me begin by telling you that I started this little backyard experiment a couple years ago when I walked into our backyard one night and was surprised - and delighted - by the symphony of sounds I heard. Although I kind of knew the answer, I wondered "Do the other yards sound like this?" I walked down the street and stopped.
Silence.
The difference?
Our yard has become habitat. There are layers of vegetation, native plants, leaf litter, water, host plants, trees and shrubs, places to hide and reproduce, and importantly, we aren't broadly spraying insecticides.
The insects aren't there because we ordered them from the Backyard Biodiversity Catalog.
We created the conditions. Nature moved in.
Differential grasshopper in the garden Leaf mimicking katydid being held in the garden A grasshopper in the garden
And here's the WHY...
Native plants provide food and host relationships.
Different layers of vegetation create shelter and niches.
Trees and shrubs give insects places to live, feed, mate and overwinter.
Water supports an entirely different community of life.
Leaving some stems/leaves/natural material provides habitat.
No broad-spectrum insecticides means the very creatures you're trying to attract aren't being eliminated.
When you've got insects...
You've got food for birds.
Food for baby birds.
Food for bats.
Food for frogs.
Food for other insects.
Pollination.
Decomposition.
An entire little food web starts humming.
Literally.
And suddenly your loud backyard isn't merely noisy. It's evidence of relationships.
It takes 7,000-9,000 caterpillars to raise one clutch of Black-capped chickadees, so you can begin to see the importance of having habitat in your yard. Many people don't know that the exotic, non-native species of bushes, trees and flowers we have in our yards don't support the life necessary for the food web. Our local butterflies and moths - which start as caterpillars - lay eggs (which produces caterpillars) on native, local plants. That's the number one best way to help local pollinators and to lay the foundation for your backyard symphony: plant native plants.
I used to think of a peaceful backyard as a quiet backyard. I've changed my mind.
Now, when I step outside on a summer night and hear crickets, katydids and all the other creatures I can't even identify singing from the darkness, it doesn't sound noisy to me.
It sounds alive! Look. Listen. Notice. Wonder.
And somewhere along the way, you'll start caring about the little creatures making all that racket.
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