If you like plants, you’ve probably tried your hand at ornamental gardening and food gardening. But what about landscaping that’s designed to attract birds and other animals to your yard?

Both the National Wildlife Federation and Audubon Pennsylvania have certification programs that recognize home gardeners who create wildlife habitats in their backyards. Certified gardeners are given a sign to put in their front yards, reminding passers-by that humans and animals can coexist.

Dan Welker’s sign from the National Wildlife Federation has attracted considerable interest. Welker lives on a street in Chestnut Hill with a lot of foot traffic, and he wants to raise awareness about how important it is to garden with native plants.

Until he retired five years ago, Welker worked for the Environmental Protection Agency, educating the public about pollution prevention. When he bought his house, the small back yard was planted with grass and a few invasive tree species.

“I’ve never been a big fan of grass,” he said.

Lawns look pretty, but they’re not very good for the environment. Welker said lawns actually cause pollution, citing problems such as noise and fumes from lawnmowers, as well as pesticide runoff.

Today, his yard has about a hundred different species of plants, and has been featured in local and national publications as an example of how gardening with native plants can give wild animals a refuge in the city. Although Welker didn’t set out to create a wildlife refuge, he has welcomed the increased bird population in his yard.

According to Welker, all wildlife needs water, shelter and food. His yard has several water features, including a pond and birdbath. He has provided evergreen trees and rock piles for animals to hide in, deciduous trees that make good places for them to perch. Plants with fruits or seeds make good food. For example, the coneflowers in his yard mature into thistles in the late fall and early winter. “Goldfinches love that,” he said.

The garden that Mary Ann Boyer manages has a more direct pedagogical purpose. Boyer is a science teacher at Springside School. When the school paved a large parking lot in 2007 right next to Fairmount Park, Boyer was concerned about the effect of storm water runoff on the wild parkland.

With the school’s approval, Boyer worked with the Philadelphia Water Department, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, and Audubon Pennsylvania to make a garden inside a traffic circle in the parking lot. Boyer’s students did the actual planting, choosing species that would filter pollutants out of storm water before it seeped into the ground. The staff at Redbud Nursery in Glen Mills, which specializes in native plants, helped Boyer select appropriate plants.

They also selected plants that would be attractive to birds and pollinating insects. The project served as a pilot for the Audubon at School program (they also have programs for homeowners and local governments.) Springside has since planted native plants elsewhere on their campus because of the positive feedback they’ve received as a result of Boyer’s initial project.

Increasing the wildlife population in your yard may have unexpected results. Welker said his yard has a lot more squirrels than it used to. “Occasionally you get raccoons,” he said. People who live near the park can expect possums and deer.

Gardening with an eye toward wildlife habitat is part of a larger purpose for both Welker and Boyer. They succeeded in creating wilderness areas on a very small scale, right here in the city.