Butterfly Garden How To
- 1). Till the garden soil 10 or more inches deep with a garden tiller. Soil preparation is vital for a successful butterfly garden. Tilling the ground breaks up the soil and eliminates claylike or rocky soil.
- 2). Blend a 6-inch layer of fertilizer or compost into the soil with the garden tiller. The fertilizer or compost increases the soil's fertility and helps to ensure the plants' survival.
- 3). Test the soil pH. Soil pH indicates whether more compost or other materials are needed. Ground limestone can tame overly acidic soil, and sulfur helps to add acid to soil. Most butterfly garden plants prefer soil that has a neutral pH, between 6 and 7.
- 4). Select established plants that attract butterflies. Among those flowering plants and flowering shrubs are butterfly bush, purple coneflower, marigold and common milkweed. Colorful flowers such as daffodils and yellow cone-shaped flowers also work well in a butterfly garden, as do herbs such as lavender.
- 5). Plant the flowering plants and shrubs in spring or early summer when the weather is warm but not too hot. Dig a 1-foot-deep hole for flowering bushes and a 7-inch-deep hole for established plants, bulbs and flower seeds.
- 6). Water the plants and shrubs once per week or more often if conditions are very dry.
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