Why Leaving A Slice Of Watermelon In Your Garden During The Day Is So Smart

Sharing a watermelon in the garden or yard on a hot summer's day is a wonderful treat. But while everyone knows that a wedge of crisp pink melon makes a cooling snack when the sun is high, few realize that the same piece of fruit can actually benefit their garden. Especially for leftover melon that is past its prime and starting to go a bit mushy, leaving it out in the garden during the day can bring real benefits.

Watermelon is a perfect fruit to bring several favorite visitors to your yard. Leftover fruit helps attract more hummingbirds and butterflies. Butterflies will flutter their way down and sip at the sweet juice of the melon just like they would a flower. For hummingbirds, it is actually a secondary effect. The diet of the buzzing little birds is made up of tiny insects like fruit flies, so that piece of fruit in the garden acts like a buffet for them, drawing in the little critters that they like to feed on.

In addition to the aesthetic effect of inviting beautiful birds and butterflies to the garden, that piece of overripe watermelon actually benefits the plants as well. Bees are also attracted to the fruit, and while they are there, these visitors will stop to pollinate nearby plants, ensuring a bountiful harvest later in the season.

Watermelon is not the only fruit that this technique works with. Extra lemons can attract butterflies and hummingbirds to your garden, as can those overripe bananas turning brown on the counter. There is one problem with leaving leftover fruit in your garden, however. While butterflies, hummingbirds, and bees are definitely welcome, the fruit can attract unwanted guests as well.

There are certainly already ants present in your yard, but they can become a nuisance, so you might want to place the watermelon in a dish with a bit of water surrounding the fruit. This tiny moat will keep that insect army at bay. Larger visitors, like raccoons, might also find that stash of melon if you leave it out overnight, so you might want to stick to daylight hours.

Another thing to consider is that while a plate of fruit on the ground attracts hummingbirds, it can also be dangerous if it puts them in the range of predators like housecats. Suspending the fruit at least 4 feet off the ground creates a safer feeding environment for the small birds and insects. It is a bit more complicated than just dropping a slice of melon on the ground, but they'll thank you for it.