If your yard's big enough, plant an oak tree.

Hello, I'm Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow. Thirty years ago, I got some small white oak seedlings, then planted them in my yard. Now I have five great big oak trees. And thank goodness, as oak trees serve as the larval food source for almost a thousand different caterpillars. And fortuitously, these trees are growing in a natural area. No fancy mondo grass or such under them, as most caterpillars drop from the trees and burrow into soil or leaf litter to pupate. My oak trees look beautiful. Birds eat lots of these caterpillars, and you'd never suspect there's an orgy of feeding going on. If your yard's big enough, plant an oak tree, even an acorn. Small trees outgrow big, expensive trees in just a few years and leave the soil underneath unplanted. Just leaf litter or organic mulch.