Once you have a butterfly garden in place an important feature to add is a water source. You can entice more butterflies to visit your garden by adding a butterfly puddling station.
Many species of butterflies congregate on wet sand and mud to partake in “puddling”, drinking water, and extracting minerals from damp puddles.
Create a Puddling Station
Materials
- A 12, 14, or 16-inch Terracotta Clay Saucer
- Small bag of Play Sand
- Small bag of Compost Manure
- Sea Salt
- Rocks
- Water
Instructions
- Fill the clay saucer ¾ of the way full of sand.
- Mix 1/2 cup of Compost Manure into the sand and blend.
- Mix 1 Teaspoon of Sea Salt to the sand and compost manure.
- Add a few rocks to the clay saucer.
- Add water. Use enough water to make the mixture moist and form a shallow puddle in a low spot.
- You will need to add water every couple of days.
- After a month you will need to discard the mixture and start fresh.
- You can also add some slices of fruit to the puddling station (oranges, apples, and bananas).