Other garden practices Learn to tolerate weeds - Weeds provide shelter, and their flowers attract many beneficial insects and butterfly caterpillars. Decrease amount of mowed lawn - Mowed grass demands more fertilizer and water, not to mention maintenance. Mowed grass provides little in the way of food or shelter to wildlife. Provide rough vegetation or brush piles at edge of yard - These areas provide shelter for most all wildlife. No mowed area should be too far from sheltering bushes or tall grasses.
Native plants are well adapted and therefore require less water and fertilizer.
Conserve water - Water extracted from the ground can effect the water table, damaging habitats miles away. Diverting water from rivers and lakes impacts fish, aquatic birds and mammals, among others. Cut back on pesticides - Most will also kill beneficial insects, as well as birds and other animals. BT, Bacillus Thuringiensis, is commonly used for caterpillar pests such as cabbage butterfly caterpillars. Although it is very useful for this, remember, it will just as easily kill monarch butterfly caterpillars if sprayed indescriminantly.