Butterflies tend to add to the color and beauty of a garden.
Because of this, you may be interested in creating a garden that is designed to attract more butterflies.
These are known as butterfly gardens, and there are a few special things that you need to know about, in order to create the perfect haven for the butterflies that you want to attract.
First, you will want your garden to be in almost full sunlight.
You must carefully select plants for your garden that enjoy full sunlight, as this is what butterflies enjoy the most as well.
This doesn't mean that there cannot be some shaded areas of your garden; it simply means that if your garden is to be a butterfly garden, the majority of the garden must reside in sunlight.
The area that you select must also be shielded from the wind as much as possible.
Butterflies do not fare well - or want to be - in areas where they are subjected to a great deal of wind, or constant wind.
You can use a variety of methods to block the wind from your garden.
For example, you can build a solid fence, and whatever you use to block the wind from your garden can also be used to add to the overall beauty of the garden.
The butterflies that visit your garden will appreciate a source of water.
This can be in the form of a small pond, buckets of water, or even a bird bath.
Butterflies also need minerals, such as those found in salt.
Areas that are moistened and covered with salt minerals are very beneficial for butterflies, and will make your butterfly residents quite happy.
Flowers are an essential part of a butterfly garden.
They will enjoy a wide variety of flowers, but unlike many other types of insects, they won't cause any harm to the flowers when they feed on them.
In fact, many scientists who do research concerning plant life agree that the butterflies are actually as beneficial to the flowers, as the flowers are to the butterflies.
You must also remember that all butterflies start out as caterpillars.
Caterpillars can do minor damage to flowers, so you want to make sure that you have other sources of nutrition for the caterpillars that will become butterflies.
This is done in the form of leafy greens.
The caterpillars will eventually become butterflies that grace your garden, and as they die out, more caterpillars will turn into butterflies to replace them.
You must make absolutely sure that you do not use any pesticides that will harm the butterflies.
Additionally, if you use natural means of pesticides, you could still harm the butterflies as well.
Garden enthusiasts agree that if you plant a wide variety of flowers and plants, you will have fewer problems with unwanted insects.
You should also be aware that anything that attracts butterflies will additionally attract some birds, such as hummingbirds.
If you do not want birds in your garden, you may have a hard time designing a butterfly garden.
You can finish the beauty of your butterfly garden off by adding a place to sit and enjoy the flowers and the butterflies.
It does you little good to do all that work and not be able to enjoy the fruits of your labor.
Make sure that you create a sitting area either on the edge or within the boundaries of your garden area.
People seldom bother butterflies, and sitting out in your garden to enjoy the butterflies will not scare them away - as long as you aren't chasing after them.
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