Have no fear, lizards are friends to the garden bringing gifts of goodwill with them. Welcome these eco-warriors into your eco-system and enjoy less pests, more life and a healthier environment.
Lizards eat other bugs such as slugs, mosquitoes and ants. They are harmless to humans and will not attack you. Some lizards occasionally eat leaves, but very small amounts that go unnoticed. They are also food for larger predators such as owls.
Lizards serve as living barometers and are excellent indicators of your garden’s health. Its presence indicates low levels of pollutants, pesticides and heavy metals in the garden.
How to attract lizards to your garden
- Avoid chemical pesticides and weed killers – these affect not only lizards, but impact the entire food chain.
- Mulch up garden beds to give them an insulated, snug spot to spoon at night.
- Provide hiding places like big rocks, small rocks, piles of rocks, broken rocks – pretty much rocks in all forms and bushes too.
- Larger rocks make for the perfect sunbathing beds, as well as any brick or concrete platform.
- Provide a freshwater source, which they can access, such as a pond or water feature. Better yet, make your own lizard watering hole by placing a bowl near its favourite hot spot (don’t forget to give them a way in and out).
Warm up to these reptiles and they’ll reward your garden, gracefully.
Visit the Life is a Garden website www.lifeisagarden.co.za for more gardening inspiration or join the conversation on Facebook lifeisagardensa.
