Whether the sun is shining or snow is flying there are always gardening tasks to perform! Be a green gardener and make your yard a friendly place for wildlife with Habitat Hollows tips and projects.

Choose a month below and keep your garden green!

January - February - March - April - May - June - July
August - September - October - November - December

January    Activity: Reuse Your Holiday Tree

• Prune Woody Vines
• Plan for the coming Spring by researching your backyard/garden wish list
• Stake your holiday tree in the backyard to provide shelter for wildlife
• Add a popcorn and cranberry garland for a tasty treat
• Leave an area of your landscape unmowed to attract a greater variety of wildlife
• Provide suet, a high energy food for birds
• Compost your organic waste to create a nutrient rich ground cover
• List the top ten bird species that visit your yard
• Estimate the distance to the nearest water source and add an artificial one if needed

February    Activity:Make an indoor compost bin

• Apply compost with organic fertilizer to lawn, ground cover, perennials and ornamental grasses
• Sow seeds indoors
• Sow hardy annuals outdoors
• Remove winter mulch
• Sharpen and clean gardening tools
• Look into Ohio native plants for your yard
• Collect rainfall in a rain barrel
• Activity: Choosing Ohio Native Plants

April     Activity: Make a Hummingbird Feeder

• Sow new lawns
• Prune conifers. Be sure to mulch branches for later use
• Apply compost with organic fertilizer
• Add crushed egg shells to bird feed to provide nesting birds with added calcium
• Cut nesting material (dog hair, string or fabric) into small pieces and hang in a mesh bag for the birds
• Plant a hummingbird garden
• Mulch all woody clippings
• Put out hummingbird feeders

May    Activity: Gardening for Kids

• Stop feeding suet to the birds and start offering soft foods for nestlings. Try meal worms, berries and fruit
• Prune spring blooming shrubs when flowers drop
• Apply compost and organic fertilizer
• Replace mulch around fruit bearing trees and shrubs. Be sure that your mulch is made from recycled trees!
• Put out hummingbird feeders
• Try using a people powered lawn mower
• Teach your kids about gardening by giving them their own plot

June     Activity: Make a Toad Abode

• Work old mulch into soil and apply new
• Apply compost with organic fertilizer to annuals and perennials
• Provide a clean water source for wildlife
• After last frost plant annuals
• Thin fruit trees and shrubs
• Landscape with Ohio native species
• Keep cats inside to protect wildlife

July     Activity:Gardening for Butterflies

• Put out a water supply for Wildlife.
• Turn old claypots on their sides to provide shelter for small animals
• Take softwood cuttings from trees and shrubs for propagation.
• Sow perennials for next year
• Try citronella to repell mosquitos not chemicals
• Recycle plastic lawn furniture
  Provide shelter for bluebirds with homemade nest boxes
• A logpile is good shelter for butterflies
• Dead head perennials when flowers fade to assure continued nectar sources.
• Go organic with fertilizer
• Try fish emulsion or your own organic compost. Simply build or purchase a compost bin, add food scraps and yard waste, stir and allow to decompose. When your compost turns to soil it makes a great natural fertilizer.

• Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis)
• Spicebush (Lindera benzoin)
• White Heath Aster (Aster ericoides)
• Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa)
• Bee Balm (Monarda didyma)
• Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)
• Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa)
• Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis)
• Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis)
• Hollow Joe-Pye weed (Eupatorium fistulosum)
• Blazing Star (Liatris spicata)
• Creeping Phlox (Phlox stolinifera)
• Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)

August     Activity: Wildlife Safe Pest Deterrents

• Continue to provide water for wildlife
• Deadhead perennials and annuals when flowers fade to provide a continued nectar source
• Trim hedges and place clippings on compost pile
• When mowing leave the old gas mower behind and try a rotary mower... it's quieter and cleaner for the environment
• Try wildlife safe deterrents to save your garden from hungry wildlife
• Plant a moth garden for night time visitors

September     Activity: Making Birdhouses From Gourds

• Set out bird feeders.
• Use organic fertilizer on your lawn.
• Plant new perennials and ground covers. Try to use plants native to your area.
• Water new plantings.
• Use a rain barrel to collect water for landscaping.
• Pull up spent annuals and add to compost pile.
• As leaves fall add them to the compost bin.
• Use dried gourds to make birdhouses.

October     Activity: Sunflower Wreaths for the Birds

• Set out extra bird feeders
• Fill suet feeders
• Add tree guards to young trees and shrubs
• Spread homemade mulch around trees and shrubs
• Save your pumpkin seeds
• Offer clean and dry sunflower seeds in your bird feeders
• Reuse your jack-o-lantern by setting it out for wildlife either whole or cut into pieces

November     Activity: Make a Squirrel Feeder

• Use organic fertilizer on your lawn
• Pull out old annuals and add to compost pile
• Cut back perennials or leave in place for wildlife
• Make homemade mulch from your woody clippings and add to tree and shrubs
• Stake and wrap new trees and shrubs in burlap

December     Activity: Outdoor Decorations for Wildlife

• Fill suet feeders for birds
• Provide a heated water source for wildlife
• Assess your garden landscaping strategy over the last year and plan ahead
• Check mulch cover and repair and renew as needed
• Turn a log into a feeding area