If you are like several Eastpointe rental property owners, you always want to do your part to make your rental more environmentally friendly. One rather small thing that you can carry out to make a difference is to develop a pollinator-friendly yard. Best practices for rental property landscaping concentrate on making yards that are attractive and effortless to maintain. But in fact, it might be that you or your tenant would like to make your property’s yard to be pollinator-friendly, as well. It’s a concept worth taking into consideration for a lot of reasons. Not only is it a useful investment in the environment, but on top of that, it could equally add value to your property as well. When done correctly, bringing about a pollinator-friendly yard may even be an ideal way to actually attract environmentally conscious tenants.
Even though you are not an eager and avid gardener, you may have heard that pollinators like butterflies, bees, hummingbirds, and other flying insects are diminishing quickly. These pollinators are a critical aspect of our ecosystem; without them, we would not have a lot of fruits, nuts, and seeds that most of us delight growing and eating. But really, with just a few simple changes to your rental’s landscaping, you can definitely impact pollinator populations in your location.
Plant With Variety
Part of the first thing you can enact to encourage pollinators to come to your rental yard is to employ a wide variety of plants in your landscaping. If you can, pick plants that will bloom at varying times, from early spring to late fall. In several locations, you should be able to discover native plant varieties that are both worry-free to care for and delightful to pollinators.
Add a Feeder
Another trouble-free measure to draw in hummingbirds and butterflies is to hang a nectar feeder in your rental yard. A lot of people take pleasure watching these pollinators feed, and they will moreover bring numerous benefits to your landscaping plants. To encourage even more pollinators to your yard, you could provide a dish of ripe fruit or water mixed with sea salt. Butterflies are, in particular, attracted to these items.
Rethink the Lawn
A healthy, green lawn is a vital part of the landscaping for various rental homes. You can support pollinators with your lawn as well by developing a few hassle-free changes. As an example, allowing the grass to grow a little taller (about 3 inches) and develop seed heads will not only hold moisture in the soil but furthermore pull in pollinators to your yard. You could moreover try mixing in various low-growing plants with your grass, as for instance white clover or violets. These non-invasive plants will help give local pollinator populations a boost without spoiling the health of your lawn.
Use Alternatives to Pesticides
Spraying the lawn or other plants with pesticides is a customary practice for a lot of property owners. But irrespective of what sort of insect you wish to get rid of, you’ll kill off beneficial pollinators similarly. If you must spray to prohibit harmful insects or other issues, look into making use of options that are more environmentally friendly. Certain oils and soaps can ward off pests without killing off pollinators. Cornmeal will, many times, eliminate annoying ant colonies, while garlic, pepper, and even beer can keep certain biting insects at bay.
If your tenant is the one who likes to add pollinator-friendly elements to your rental yard, you might want to consider letting them do it. Naturally, you’ll want first to be certain that you and your tenant know full well what changes will be built, who will do the work, and who will pay for the improvements. Granting that your tenant may seek help from you to pay back the costs of the plants or other stuff, if it will add value to your property or make it become more attractive to future tenants, it may just be a good investment and worth saying yes to.
Designing a pollinator-friendly yard for your rental that will also boost your property values is surely attainable. But having said that, it can be a challenge to determine what changes will add to your property’s appeal. You may want to consider hiring expert Eastpointe property managers for answers and advice about this and a lot of other issues you may have in connection with managing your property. To learn more about all of the excellent services that Real Property Management Metro Detroit has to offer – including landscaping advice – contact us online today!
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