My wife and I have been trying to revive our backyard over the past few years and make it pollinator-wildlife friendly. When we moved in it was bare dirt with construction debris and we did a lot of work to clean it up. The past few years have been a process of trying to establish ground cover (a mix of clover, native grass, and local ground cover that has just moved in), planting local pollinator-friendly perennials, and leaving the leaves down all winter as an insect habitat.
Last year I was delighted that butterflies started showing up more regularly and we got fireflies despite being in the middle of West Philly, and the variety of birds showing up in our yard skyrocketed.
So far every warm evening this year has been marked by worms coming out of the ground in droves to mate (we refer to these as our worm orgies), and tiny wild violets are popping up all over.
And just now I was greeted by multiple little happy ground-nesting bees, which I’ve never seen around here before!
I know it’s just a little thing, but every step we take toward having a healthier ecosystem in the tiny patch of land I’m on charge of makes me incredibly happy.