this post was submitted on 09 Jul 2026
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21
The agreement with wildlife (lemmy.world)
submitted 5 days ago by DokPsy@lemmy.world to c/gardening@lemmy.world
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It's the time of year again when I find my citrus plants covered in wiggling bird poop. The caterpillar form of the swallowtail butterfly is extra fond of citrus plants and they make a point to have their first point of life in my garden. I have a rule that I make plain to the little critters: you can stay if you don't eat too many leaves. Eat too much and you get evicted. It does no good for them if the plant dies.

It got me thinking: where do others sit on the scale of "magazine perfect lawn piece" to "it's less garden and more forest area I found to live in"?

Do you have everything where the animals can't get to them or are you fighting the birds for the perfect ripeness of a fig?

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[–] PlantJam@lemmy.world 4 points 5 days ago (1 children)

My house had zero landscape plants when I bought it. Now it has several hundred. In a couple areas, I planted host plants just for caterpillars to eat, and am growing more from seed to have even more host plants. I'm even considering a native citrus specifically to attract swallowtail butterflies.

All that to say, your tree will be fine, even if it looks a little ragged.

[–] DokPsy@lemmy.world 3 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Oh, this is not the first time for them. I've had one citrus die between summer survival time and too greedy caterpillars so I try to keep a balance between the two. I appreciate being considered a safe space for them to grow. Next is a little area for monarchs and others to enjoy a stay

[–] PlantJam@lemmy.world 1 points 4 days ago

What about planting something else that they'll eat like hop tree? Obviously that's not much of an immediate solution, though.

To answer your original question, it's always a balancing act. I love all kinds of butterflies and moths, but an asp on plants near my front door still had to go. They turn into the southern flannel moth, but as caterpillars are capable of a very painful sting.