The way you arrange the trees, shrubs, and perennials that you choose also has a big influence on your garden's wildlife attraction. In nature, the edge of a forest is home to the most diverse mix of wildlife species. In our gardens, we can create a forest-edge habitat with a hedgerow, which is simply a variety of deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubs that are planted and maintained in an informal way. The edges of your property, where you may want some screening for your own privacy, are excellent places for hedgerows.

Placing a variety of small and medium-sized conifers in your hedgerow will help wildlife ride out winter storms, and the leaves of the deciduous plants you place there will provide shade as well as morning dew for drinking and bathing. Providing roosting boxes for bats or birds, or leaving clean nest boxes up during winter, can also fulfill the need for shelter.

A low shrub and perennial border can also be planted in a hedgerow style anywhere in your garden, and will attract ground-feeding birds and Beneficial Insects for the same reasons as above. Coarse mulches such as wood chips, fallen leaves, and large bark pieces give beneficial, ground-dwelling insects their own "mini-hedgerow" for safe travel, residency, and over-wintering.

Because birds, insects, and small mammals instinctively fear predators from above, they are most attracted to landscapes that provide protection from predators as well as shelter from winter wind, rain, and summer heat. A hedgerow provides a "green corridor" for wildlife to travel through your garden without crossing large open spaces where they are more vulnerable to predators, as well as providing a diverse mix of food sources.

Brush piles and rock piles also provide shelter for ground-feeding birds, chipmunks, Beneficial Insects, and amphibians. Save your small branches, fern fronds, and other pruning leftovers to create a brush pile in an unused corner of your garden. Place some flat river rocks in a sunny spot for butterflies to sun themselves, or in a shady spot for frogs and black beetles to stay cool and moist.