You are nature's best hope.

Hello, I'm Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making it Grow. You are nature's best hope. That's the good news from Professor Doug Tallamy, who's written a book by that same name. Although we've lost 3 billion nesting birds in the past 50 years, you, regardless of the size of your yard, can add plants that are the larval food sources for caterpillars. And that's what baby birds eat, from a mighty oak to a smaller native cherry, down to milkweed, which is the only larval food for monarch butterflies. By reducing the size of our lawns, 40 million acres in the lower 48, you can make space for native plants and still have a place to practice putting, even if you have just a patio or balcony. You can be part of the solution by growing smaller larval food plants in containers.