Many Palm Harbor rental property owners like you desire to make your rental more environmentally friendly. Establishing a pollinator-friendly yard is one small thing you can do to make a difference. Having attractive yards that are easy to maintain 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 a project worth thinking about 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 correctly, having a pollinator-friendly yard may even be a strategic way to entice environmentally conscious tenants.
Although you may not necessarily be an avid gardener, you may have heard that pollinators like butterflies, bees, hummingbirds, and other flying insects are quickly declining. These pollinators are good for our ecosystem. Without them, we would not have various fruits, nuts, and seeds that most of us eat and relish. But with just small updates to your rental’s landscaping, you can definitely impact pollinator populations in your area.
Plant With Variety
One thing you can do first to encourage pollinators to visit your rental home’s yard is to use a wide variety of plants in your landscaping. You should ideally go for plants that will bloom at separate times, from early spring to late fall. In most places, you should be able to obtain native plant varieties that are both easy to care for and quick to attract pollinators.
Add a Feeder
Hanging a nectar feeder is another simple approach to attract hummingbirds and butterflies to your rental home’s yard. Apart from providing many benefits to your landscaping plants, a lot of people also enjoy watching these pollinators feed. You may also place a dish of ripe fruit or water mixed with sea salt to get even more pollinators to your yard. Butterflies are extremely drawn to these items.
Rethink the Lawn
For many rental homes, a flourishing green lawn is a crucial part of the landscaping. By making a few updates, you can also support pollinators with your lawn. For 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 blending 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 a well-known 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 ward off pests without killing off pollinators. Cornmeal will at times 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 details to your rental yard, you might consider allowing them to do it. Of course, you would want you and your tenant to 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 doable. But it may be a challenge to know what specific updates will add to your property’s appeal. For answers and advice about this and any other questions you may have about managing your property, you may want to think of turning to expert Palm Harbor property managers. To discover about all of the great services that Real Property Management TradeWinds has to offer – including landscaping advice – contact us online today!
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