More on Butterfly Garden: Best Butterfly Plants Forages and Attractors Place for Water, Rest Attracting Hummingbirds

Location

Soil Preparation

Avoid Pesticides

Maintenance

After Frost

Spring
Replanting

One of the most popular gardening specialties is butterfly
and hummingbird gardening.
The key is to select the widest array of nectar-producing
flowers you can.

Provide the butterflies and hummingbirds nectar all spring,
summer and fall. Plant the
food source, or forage, for the butterfly species
you want.

If your garden is a good source of nectar and forage,
butterflies will inhabit it all
season. Hummingbirds will be more apt to nest and hang around
all summer, too.

To have a successful butterfly and hummingbird garden,
consider several things before
planting.

Location

Most butterflies prefer to rest and feed in full sunshine,
so the ideal place would
have six or more hours of daily sunlight in June.

If the site is grassy, remove the grass first. Tilling may
work, but some grasses, such
as Bermuda and centipede, can sprout by the millions from the
chopped-up pieces. You may
need to use a contact herbicide.

Picture how you and others will view the garden and the
butterflies. Putting larger
plants to the rear and smaller plants up front makes sense. So
does putting a butterfly feeding dish or
birdbath where you can easily see it.

Ready access to water will make watering and watching more
convenient. A small bench or
chair nearby will make the butterfly garden a great morning or
evening resting spot.

Soil Preparation

The single most important thing you can do for your garden
is prepare the soil. Use a
shovel or tiller to turn it up 12 inches deep over the entire
area.

Add several bushels of compost, rotted pine bark or manure.
Then till again until the
soil is loose. Your plants will thrive in well-drained soil
with lots of organic matter.

Avoid Pesticides

Anything used to kill bugs won’t be good for a butterfly
garden.

One way to control pests is to gently wash the bugs off
plants with a pressure nozzle
on the garden hose. Many will drown. Insect predators will eat
others on the ground.

Do this in the morning, when bugs are active, to
let the foliage dry before night.
A few chewed leaves is a small price to pay for your
butterflies’ health.

Maintenance

Fertilize your garden the day you plant it or clean it up
after winter, around March
15. Evenly sprinkle about 1 pound of 10-10-10 for every 100
square feet of soil surface.

Fertilize again in late May and again in mid-June. Don’t get
fertilizer on the flowers
and leaves. It will burn them.

Water thoroughly after fertilizing and often during dry
spells. Weed occasionally, and
remove spent flowers to keep more flowers coming.

After Frost

After a killing frost, let your plants dry down naturally.
Around Thanksgiving, or
Christmas if we have a warm fall, cut your butterfly bush and
‘Miss Huff’ Lantana
stems to 6 inches high.

With your lawn mower blade on high (3 inches or so), mow
everything but the butterfly
bush, lantana and other woody shrubs. It’s best if you use a
mulching blade.

Leave the debris on the ground, and cover it with an inch or
two of fresh pine straw.
Mound leaves around the Lantana and butterfly-bush
trunks.

Spring Replanting

Around May 1, scrape away mulch where you want new butterfly
plants and install them as
you did your first planting.

Return the mulch and pine straw to the freshly planted area,
and fertilize your whole
garden. Water in the fertilizer thoroughly, and weed
occasionally, as needed.

Fertilize twice more, on May 21 and June 15. Don’t fertilize
again after July 1.
Freshly planted perennials may need extra care.

Scout your garden daily for problems and to enjoy the myriad
of butterflies and other
life that will come.