Soft Landings
Where the insects you are supporting can finish their life cycles!
Soft landings are diverse native plantings under keystone trees (or any other regionally appropriate native tree). These plantings provide critical shelter and habitat for one or more life cycle stages of a number of useful insects. In addition to plants, soft landings also include leaf litter, duff, and plant debris.*
Many of the moths and butterflies that feed on native trees must complete their life cycles in the duff and leaf litter near or beneath the tree, or below ground. Creating soft landings under the dripline of trees invites all kinds of beneficial insects to complete their life cycles in your yard. A number of beneficial insects such as fireflies, bumble bees, beetles, and lacewings need soft landings to survive. Planting intentional soft landings under keystone trees builds healthy soil, provides food for songbirds and pollinators, sequesters more carbon than turf grass, and reduces time spent mowing.*