
About Garden for Wildlife®
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Garden for Wildlife® is the act of planting with purpose to benefit wildlife and people.
• An ideal Certified Wildlife Habitat® provides food, water, cover, and places to raise young for wildlife with a minimum goal of 70% native plants that provide multi-season bloom and are free of neonicotinoids and other pesticides or herbicides.
• Wildlife gardening occurs where people live, work, play, learn, and worship and especially benefits wildlife including birds, pollinators, insects, amphibians, reptiles, and small mammals.
• Gardening for wildlife helps people connect to nature and enjoy its benefits. There’s no easier place to get a daily dose of nature and the physical, mental, and spiritual benefits that go along with it than right outside your own door.
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• Wildlife gardening is inclusive. Anyone, at any age, in any place, can help. Anyone can participate and receive recognition for their efforts, whether it’s one person with a window box or an entire community that has built a wildlife habitat corridor.
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Turn Your Space into a Certified Wildlife Habitat®
Wildlife is experiencing a crisis like none before in our lifetimes. Luckily, you have the power to help wildlife by supporting them where you live! You can support wildlife in your own yard and neighborhood by using sustainable gardening practices or by totally transforming your lawn into a natural landscape!
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Native plants are the foundation of a wildlife habitat garden. They provide ample sources of food, cover and places to raise young. The National Wildlife Federation recommends a habitat garden space strive for 70% native plants. You can find native plant lists for your zip code through the Native Plant Finder or look through keystone plant lists for your ecoregion!
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By creating a habitat in your outdoor space that provides the habitat essentials of food, water, cover, places to raise young, and sustainable practices, you can even get recognized as a Certified Wildlife Habitat®! By certifying, your wildlife habitat will be recognized by both the National Wildlife Federation and Texas Conservation Alliance.
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Getting your space recognized as a Certified Wildlife Habitat helps you to advance the mission of Texas Conservation Alliance and the National Wildlife Federation. Plus, it comes with tons of benefits!
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Benefits of your $25 certification include:
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A personalized certificate.
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A one-year National Wildlife Federation membership and subscription to National Wildlife® magazine.
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10% off National Wildlife Federation catalog merchandise such as nesting boxes, feeders, birdbaths, and other items to enhance your wildlife garden.
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Subscription to monthly Garden for Wildlife® Habitats e-newsletter with gardening tips, wildlife stories, and other resources.
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Exclusive option to purchase attractive garden signs designating your garden as a Certified Wildlife Habitat® with the National Wildlife Federation and Texas Conservation Alliance.​
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*Use code GFW40 to get a Classic Sign or flag for just $18 when you certify! That's 40% off the sign price!*
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Learn more about how to certify!
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Commonly Used URLs
Certification Tool
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