A lot of Wake Forest rental property owners like you want to do their job to make your rental more environmentally friendly. Establishing a pollinator-friendly yard is one small thing you can do to make a difference. Creating easy to maintain yet attractive yards is a best practice for rental property landscaping. However, you or your tenant could also think of making your property’s yard pollinator-friendly. It’s worth thinking about this idea for many reasons. It’s not only a valuable investment in the environment, but it could potentially add value to your property as well. When done precisely, having a pollinator-friendly yard may even be a good way to draw in environmentally conscious tenants.
Even if you’re not exactly an avid gardener, you may have heard that pollinators like butterflies, bees, hummingbirds, and other flying insects are rapidly declining. These pollinators are important to our ecosystem. Without them, we would not have various fruits, nuts, and seeds that most of us eat and enjoy. But with just small changes to your rental’s landscaping, you can definitely influence the pollinator populations in your land.
Plant With Variety
To encourage pollinators to visit your rental yard, you should use a wide variety of plants in your landscaping. You should pick plants that will bloom from early spring to late fall at separate times. In a lot of locations, you should be able to procure native plant varieties that are both easy to care for and fast to attract pollinators.
Add a Feeder
Hanging a nectar feeder in your rental yard is another simple strategy to entice hummingbirds and butterflies. Aside from giving many benefits to your landscaping plants, many people also enjoy watching these pollinators feed. To get even more pollinators to your yard, you could also place a dish of ripe fruit or water mixed with sea salt. Butterflies are extremely drawn to these items.
Rethink the Lawn
For many rental homes, a thriving green lawn is an essential part of the landscaping. By making a few updates, you can also support pollinators with your lawn. To state an example, if you allow the grass to grow a bit taller (about 3 inches) and develop seed heads, it will not only retain moisture in the soil but also entice pollinators to your yard. You could also consider integrating some low-growing plants with your grass, such as white clover or violets. These non-invasive plants will boost local pollinator populations without causing harm to the health of your lawn.
Use Alternatives to Pesticides
Spraying the lawn or other plants with pesticides is an ordinary practice for a lot of property owners. Regardless of what kind of insect you intend to kill, you could also be affecting beneficial pollinators. If you must use a spray to manage harmful insects or other issues, consider choosing the ones that are more environmentally friendly. A couple of oils and soaps can attack pests without killing off pollinators. Cornmeal will sometimes ward off troublesome ant colonies, while garlic, pepper, and even beer can keep certain biting insects at bay.
If your tenant wants to add pollinator-friendly details to your rental yard, you might consider allowing them to do it. Of course, you and your tenant should know what updates will be made, who will do the work, and who will pay for the improvements. In the event that your tenant wants you to pay for the plants and other elements, it still may be a good investment and worth saying yes to since it could add value to your property or make it further attractive to future tenants.
Designing a pollinator-friendly yard for your rental that will also boost your property values is a possibility. But it may be a challenge to know what specific updates will add to your property’s appeal. You could consult expert Wake Forest property managers for answers and advice about this and any other queries you may have about managing your property. To find out about all of the great services that Real Property Management Raleigh has to offer – including landscaping advice – contact us online today!
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