10 easy steps to your own backyard wildlife habitat

By Eva Ditler, Managing Editor, San Diego Home/Garden Lifestyles

1. Cultivate plants that offer a food source for wildlife: seeds, fruits, nuts and berries.
2. In winter, supplement food sources with sunflower and millet seed, peanuts in the shell, cracked corn and wild-bird mix.
3. Supply water with an elevated birdbath, pond or just a shallow dish filled regularly.
4. Plant shrubs that create dense thick growth. Evergreens like junipers give year-round protective cover.
5. Provide a place for wildlife to hide. Examples: a hollow log, a rock pile or a dry-stacked stone wall.
6. Plant trees for birds or attach nesting shelves to posts or house eaves.
7. Use organic amendments, mulches and fertilizers.
8. Use a natural method of pest control, such as herbal pest sprays, ladybugs and dellocate snails.
9. Start a compost pile using kitchen scraps and clippings from the garden.
10. Provide a bench or chair for people to sit and view the action.