Like many Gonzales rental property owners, you want to make your rental to be more environmentally friendly. A tiny thing you can do to make a difference is to create a pollinator-friendly yard. Creating yards that are attractive and easy to maintain is a best practice for rental property landscaping. However, you or your tenant also should consider making your property’s yard pollinator-friendly. It’s worth taking this project into consideration for many reasons. It’s not only a positive investment in the environment, but it can 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 necessarily 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 a few tweaks to your rental’s landscaping, you can certainly 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 out 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 home’s yard is another easy approach to attract hummingbirds and butterflies. Aside from giving many benefits to your landscaping plants, many people also enjoy watching these pollinators feed. You could also place a dish of ripe fruit or water mixed with sea salt to attract even more pollinators to your yard. Butterflies are usually attracted to these items.
Rethink the Lawn
For many rental homes, a thriving green lawn is an essential part of the landscaping. By doing some simple changes, 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 mixing in some low-growing plants with your grass, such as white clover or violets. These non-invasive plants will boost local pollinator populations without damaging the health of your lawn.
Use Alternatives to Pesticides
Spraying the lawn or other plants with pesticides is a frequent practice for a lot of property owners. But no matter what kind of insect you intend to kill, you could also be getting rid of beneficial pollinators. If you must use a spray to manage harmful insects or other issues, consider selecting the ones that are more environmentally friendly. A couple of oils and soaps can fight off pests without killing off pollinators. Cornmeal will sometimes eliminate troublesome ant colonies, while garlic, pepper, and even beer can keep certain biting insects at bay.
If your tenant wants to add pollinator-friendly elements to your rental home’s yard, you might consider allowing them to do it. Of course, you’ll primarily want to make sure that you and your tenant 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 more attractive to future tenants.
Designing a pollinator-friendly yard for your rental that will also boost your property values is certainly doable. But it may be a challenge to know what certain updates will add to your property’s appeal. You could consult expert Gonzales property managers for answers and advice about this and any other queries you may have about managing your property. To learn about all of the great services that Real Property Management Baton Rouge has to offer – including landscaping advice – contact us online today!
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