Backyard Waterfall: How to Attract Wildlife to Your Yard

If you’re a nature lover, adding a backyard waterfall to your landscape design is an excellent way to attract wildlife to your yard. Waterfalls not only add visual appeal to your backyard but also provide a source of fresh water and a habitat for various creatures.

Scale and Space

Before building a backyard waterfall, you need to consider the scale and space of your garden. Depending on the size of your backyard, you can create a waterfall that is either large or small. Larger waterfalls are ideal for bigger backyards, while smaller ones are perfect for smaller spaces.

Varying Size and Color

To create a visually stunning effect, you can use larger stones and smaller pebbles and rocks of varying size and color. These elements help to create a natural-looking waterfall that will attract wildlife. Your eye will go to the many different colors, and sizes of your properly designed water feature.

Well-Designed and Watertight Path

Waterfalls can be tricky to install, as the running water needs a well-designed and watertight path for worry-free, continuous operation. It is recommended to consult a professional landscaper with experience to ensure the waterfall is built to last.

Eye-Catching Feature

A free-standing statuary fountain or a waterfall with multiple levels and cascading streams of water is an eye-catching feature that can create a focal point in your backyard. Wildlife animals are drawn to the fresh, clean water gracefully flowing from the fountain or waterfall. Some fountains are constructed with a traditional birdbath design, while others offer cascading water through naturalistic rocks, ceramic pots, or Old-World sculpture. When designed and installed correctly, the whole water feature will seem like it has always been there.

Stream

Incorporating a stream in your backyard that flows into ponds is another excellent way to attract wildlife. The advantage of having a stream as a water feature in your garden is that the water is always in motion, keeping cleaning costs low. Additionally, keeping the stream stocked with fish will help keep the mosquito population manageable.

Butterflies, Bees, Birds

Water features in your backyard can attract various creatures, including butterflies, bees, and birds. A stream or waterfall provides a source of fresh water that these creatures need to survive. Moreover, planting beautiful flowers and shrubs near the water feature will attract bees and butterflies, which all can drink from the stream.

Wildlife-Friendly Water Feature

When choosing a water feature for your backyard, you should consider the type of garden you have. The water feature should blend in with your entire yard and enhance rather than overpower the other elements. Also, a well-balanced design can make your water feature more appealing to wildlife. If done well, you will see over time that insects and animals will visit your water feature more and more as time goes on.

Beautiful Plants and Textures

Using beautiful plants and textures in your backyard waterfall can also help to attract wildlife. Aquatic plants, such as lily pads, can be introduced to the waterfall to attract more wildlife animals. Meanwhile, planting some flowering shrubs and using different textures of rocks will make the waterfall look more natural and appealing to various creatures.

In conclusion, adding a backyard waterfall or stream to your landscape design is an excellent way to attract wildlife to your yard. By considering the scale and space of your garden, varying size and color, and using well-designed and watertight paths, you can create an eye-catching feature that will enhance the appearance of your backyard. Moreover, a wildlife-friendly water feature will provide a source of fresh water for various creatures, making your backyard a welcoming habitat for them.

Using a Professional Water feature designer and Landscape installer will help ensure that your waterfall looks like it’s a naturally occurring area. So many times, a waterfall looks like it just pops up out of nowhere,  or it seems like it is out of place. There are many tricks of the trade that a Professional Landscaper will use to ensure your water feature blends into the surrounding environment as desired.