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Gardening for Wildlife

Overview

Pocket prairies. Butterfly gardens. Planter pots with a spot of color. Anyone can help pollinators by planting natives in their schoolyard. Let the children scatter the seeds, pick and dissect flowers in the Spring, harvest seed heads for the next generation, listen to the grasses sway, journal about what they see, hear and smell, and catch insects for observation.

HOW MANY SOUNDS DO YOU HEAR IN A WILDLIFE GARDEN?

HoustonUrbanTNC · City Symphony: Dawn Chorus in a Houston Urban Neighborhood (Knollwood Village)

Local Resources

The goal is to use NATIVE plants in any area. Start with the Nine Natives Planting Guide PDF Click here for WORD DOC of Nine Natives Planting Guide when making your selections, or the Texas Top 20 Wildflowers according to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

Use the Building a Pocket Prairie (website) from the Katy Prairie Conservancy for a step-by-step guide to building a small wildlife garden.

Contact the Native Plant Society of Houston for a guest speaker, and check out their articles on Milkweeds & Monarchs. Attend their annual Wildscapes Workshop each fall for a plant sale and guest speakers.

Native Prairie Association of Texas is a source for student programs on building pocket prairies. Contact Della Barbato for resources, or to organize a trip to the prairie to collect your own native seeds.

If you’d like a more in-depth look at prairies, visit the Coastal Prairies page.

Texas Top 20 Wildflowers (according to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center)

Pocket prairies can be small or large, and they’re full of color and pollinators during all seasons. Use natives, and they are easy to maintain. Photo by Jaime Gonzalez.
Pocket prairies can be small or large, and they’re full of color and pollinators during all seasons. Use natives, and they are easy to maintain. Photo by Jaime Gonzalez.

Local places to buy native plants:

Order native wildflower seeds: Wildseed Farm (Fredericksburg) or Native American Seed Company (Junction)

Borrow tools: Connect with the Houston Tool Bank to borrow equipment and expertise.

Grants:

It’s easy, and fun, to raise butterflies.
It’s easy, and fun, to raise butterflies.
  • Contact The Garden Club of Houston for grants for your school garden. New cycle closes October 15, 2022 @5:00pm. Julie Griffin can help you with specific questions.
  • Save our Monarchs – Every school, scout troop and 4H club is invited to participate in the Save Our Monarchs Pollinator Garden Program. Once enrolled, schools will receive a Pollinator Garden Mix pouch containing 17 wildflower, ten (10) annuals for first-year color, plus seven (7) perennials for second and successive years’ bloom.
  • Monarch Watch – Everything you needed to know about Monarch butterflies, including applications for free milkweed. Register your Monarch garden in their Waystation Program.

Activities/Lessons

NATURE JOURNALING PROMPTS

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Schoolyard audits from the National Wildlife Federation:

K-2 Conducting a Schoolyard Habitats Audit PDF Version, or Word Version | K-2 Baseline Audit PDF Version, or Word Version | K-2 Post-Action Audit PDF Version or Word Version

3-5 Conducting a Schoolyard Habitats Audit PDF Version, or Word Version | 3-5 Baseline Audit PDF Version, or Word Version | 3-5 Post-Action Audit PDF Version, or Word Version

How to Make a Seed Ball PDF Version, or Word Version instructions – fun, hands-on activity.

MIDDLE SCHOOL

Schoolyard audits from the National Wildlife Federation:

6-8 Conducting a Schoolyard Habitats Audit PDF Version, or Word Version | 6-8 Baseline Audit PDF Version, or Word Version | 6-8 Post-Action Audit PDF Version, or Word Version

HIGH SCHOOL

Schoolyard audits courtesy of National Wildlife Federation:

9-12 Conducting a Schoolyard Habitats Audit PDF Version, or Word Version | 9-12 Baseline Audit PDF Version, or Word Version | 9-12 Post-Action Audit PDF Version, or Word Version

Videos

Urban Pocket Prairies Urbanization has reduced the once 600,000 acre Katy Prairie near Houston, Texas to just 200,000 acres affecting many species of wildlife. Now the Katy Prairie Conservancy has partnered with nearly a dozen schools to create pocket prairies. These small urban prairies are helping wildlife as well as children to become healthier, happier and smarter.

Jaime González discuses six reasons why planting native plants, instead of exotic plants, is better.