What Needs to Be Added to the Soil in a Butterfly Garden
North America is home to approximately 750 species of butterfly. A butterfly garden can help attract them to your home's backyard, adding sparks of living color to your plants and the air around you. Before you start planting your butterfly garden with herbs, shrubs and flowers, prepare the soil properly to set a strong foundation for a healthy, butterfly-friendly landscape.
Many of the plants that are common to a butterfly garden thrive in soil that's well-draining and rich in organic matter. Compost provides exactly that, helping to boost the soil structure, add nutrients and improve the way that water moves through the soil. For best results, add 3 inches of compost to the butterfly garden and mix it into the top 8 inches of soil. This helps keep your butterfly garden healthy and growing all year.
Most of the plants grown in butterfly gardens are flowers, because butterflies are drawn to the sweet nectar in the flowers. Examples include lavender plants (Lavendula spp.), lilac plants (Syringa spp.) and daylilies (Hemerocallis spp.). And like most flower plants, these butterfly favorites thrive in fertile growing soils that support optimal plant and blossom production. Create the appropriate levels of soil fertility by spreading a balanced fertilizer, such as a 10-10-10 flower fertilizer, in your butterfly garden before planting your flowers. For best results, use approximately 1/2 pound of flower fertilizer for every 50 square feet of garden, and mix it evenly into the top 6 inches of soil.
Butterflies are sensitive to herbicides and insecticides, so limit chemical use as much as possible. Mulch can help lessen the need for chemicals because it helps control weeds, and in turn your use of weed killers. Because weeds also often act as the chief host for various pests, mulching also reduces the need for insecticides. For the best weed control, apply mulch in layer approximately 3 to 6 inches deep. As a side benefit, mulch also helps conserve soil moisture levels to keep your butterfly garden more consistently hydrated.
To maintain soil health, reapply compost once a year in the spring at a rate of 2 to 3 inches of compost, mixed into the top 8 inches of soil. After the first three years of your butterfly garden, reduce compost rates to 1 to 2 inches. Reapply fertilizer every spring, and apply again in early summer if the butterfly garden isn't growing as fast as you'd like. This secondary application should be spread at a rate that's half as much as the spring rate.
- Penn State Extension: Gardening for Butterflies
- Alabama Cooperative Extension System: Plant Butterfly Garden in April and May
- University of Minnesota Extension: Creating a Butterfly Garden
- University of California Cooperative Extension: An Alternative Weed Control - Mulching
- University of Kentucky: How to Make Butterfly Gardens
- University of Missouri Extension: Fertilizing Flower Gardens
Joshua Duvauchelle is a certified personal trainer and health journalist, relationships expert and gardening specialist. His articles and advice have appeared in dozens of magazines, including exercise workouts in Shape, relationship guides for Alive and lifestyle tips for Lifehacker. In his spare time, he enjoys yoga and urban patio gardening.