WAUWATOSA — I met Sandy Krause at a recent TMJ4 “Let’s Talk Wauwatosa” event. She was excited to tell me about her wildlife habitat, and I’m excited to share her story with you.
Krause is passionate about pollinators, so much so that her yard has been certified as a habitat for wildlife.
“It's a program that's national, but we have a really focused effort here in Wauwatosa," Krause said. "A garden of life is a garden that supports the pollinators and the wildlife within our ecosystem.”
Many of us take advantage of the first warm days of spring by raking our yards and clearing out the dead leaves, but Krause said, “Leave the leaves, save the bees."
"Underneath these leaves is housing for bees and the pollinators," Krause explained. "That's where they hide in the winter, and if we throw them out, we're throwing out the bees and fireflies.”
She suggests waiting until the temperature is 50° overnight consistently before clearing your yard. This gives enough time for the little critters to come out from underneath.
“There is life under there, life beyond the spring plants that we see coming up,” Krause said.
Watch: Wauwatosa woman creates certified wildlife habitat in her yard
Wauwatosa is seeking certification from the National Wildlife Federation as a wildlife habitat community. To register they need 250 individual properties certified as Wildlife Habitat. They already have 119 and are hoping to get 100 this year.
“We need those companions," Cornelia Beilke, a volunteer for the National Wildlife Federation, said. "To obtain certification, there are really five major points that you will promise to do or fulfill. Food, water, cover, and places to raise young, and another really important aspect is sustainable gardening. That means don't use pesticides or chemical fertilizers because that is much to the detriment of pollinators, birds, and other animals, including us, because it goes into the runoff, it goes into the rivers and streams.”
I’d always been bothered by bees and bugs, but considering the fact a significant portion of our food is directly or indirectly pollinated by insects, I have a renewed respect for the circle of life.
https://www.nwf.org/Native-Plant-Habitats/Create-and-Certify
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