While we may think about many different lawn pests that can wreak havoc to our lawns, such as beetles, larvae, caterpillars, sod webworm etc - as a nasty nuisance and enemy of our endeavors to create and maintain our beautiful lawns, we actually have a lot of friends who view these same bugs and pests as lunch.

We’re mainly talking about birds here, but past this, there are many other small animals that still live happily in or around many of our yards, and all of these small animals and birds will love to munch on some of our nasty lawn pests for their lunch, and in return we get natural allies that will happily help control all of these worst lawn pests, with almost no effort from us.

Creating A Native Garden

The easiest way to bring these small animals and birds into our yards is to create a garden and yard which is most friendly to these little creatures that are native to our own regions. In a world where we’re so used to calling into the local garden store to buy any plant we may like, creating a native garden can take a little extra work in research. But thank goodness that some of these things are now changing.

These days, a good garden store should have a section dedicated to plants, shrubs, bushes, and trees that are native to our own area. A little bit of research online or at the local library may also be of benefit in finding which plants were originally native to our local region.

With this knowledge in hand, we can then begin transforming our gardens with new plants which were once abundant in our regions before settlement. And it's these very trees and shrubs that will attract the native wildlife into our yards, not only bringing the beauty of nature directly into our yards, but also strengthening our own natural defenses against most lawn pests too.

There’s no need to completely remove all our favorite plants and trees from our gardens, but in simply adding more and more native flora to our yards, we will indeed create a more natural and enticing haven for our local wildlife. A simple birdbath in the yard, or other water supply for birds will also become a welcoming beacon for our new friends.

A few rocks in the garden, an old log slowly wasting away amongst the trees are incredible homes for our little garden friends to enjoy.

There are many other ways to invite local birds and other small friendly animals into our yards, such as squirrels, little lizards and others, but overwhelmingly we must give them the very food and shelter that they most need, and this can only come from plants and trees that are native to our local region.

The Humble Backyard Chicken

Not so long ago, most of us who had yards of our own, not only grew our own fruits and vegetables, but we also had a few chickens for fresh eggs and meat too. Sadly, for almost all of us, those days have past.

Not only did these backyard chickens clean up much organic waste from our gardens and kitchens, giving us much in return, they also ate an incredible amount of lawn and garden pests throughout each and every day, and gave us free organic fertilizer to top it off.

If we still have the opportunity to have even a few hens in the backyard, they will go such a long way to controlling almost every lawn and garden pest, without us ever having to lift a finger, and without us ever having to buy or apply pesticides. Even if they were allowed free reign over the lawn once a week, it would be of incredible benefit.