Categories: Gardening

How to Build a Butterfly House

Butterfly houses add a wonderful whimsical touch to any flowerbed and while not very common, they are easy to make and fun to paint. If you have little ones, they will be mesmerized by the little winged creatures moving in and out of the box. Butterfly houses are shaped differently than bird houses or bat houses in that they are longer from top to bottom, have small slits instead of holes and can be placed at eye level for greater enjoyment. Learning how to build butterfly houses can be fun for the whole family!

Tools, Lumber and Hardware Needed

Tools needed includes: tape measure, table saw or hand saw, sandpaper, drill, hammer, non toxic paint and paintbrush, safety glasses
Hardware needed includes: 1 ½ inch wood screws, 1 inch nails, 1 optional hinge – if you to make a door that lifts up for easy cleaning.
Wood needed: Inexpensive 1 inch pine will do, or you may prefer a longer lasting wood like oak. Sections of bark will also be needed to place inside the house for the little butterfly feet to hold on to.

Cutting Your Wood

A butterfly house can be made similar to a simple square or rectangular bird house although a little more length is usually preferred and you will be cutting several narrow vertical slits instead of one round hole for an entryway.

Cut two sides of equal length and width and a front and a back of equal length and width. For example, your sides may be 5 inches wide x 12 inches tall, and your front may be 10 inches wide by 12 inches tall.
Using the side and front measurement example above, your floor will need to be 5 by 8 inches to fit snugly into the bottom of the butterfly house.
The roof will need to cut to 7 by 10 inches to just cover the top; or, if you want it to protrude a inch or two in the front, cut the roof 8 by 10 or 9 by 10 inches.
Use your drill bit to make starter holes for vertical slots in the front board. A jig saw can then be used to cut the slots 3 inches long by ½ inch wide. Three to six slots is good.

See also Lamb's Ear - the Plant

Assembly

Attach the hinge to the back edge of the roof piece and the top edge of the back piece so that you can open the back for easy cleaning. This is optional.
Using your screws or nails, attach the sides to the front, and then the back to the sides. Add the floor, put some strips of bark inside the house for the butterflies to hold on to, and add the roof last.
It’s always best to predrill your holes with a thin bit so that you don’t split the wood.
Paint the butterfly house with non-tox paint and allow it to dry thoroughly.
Attach the post to the bottom of the house using a pipe cap. Copper or galvanized steel pipe make good posts and will not rust as quickly as wood posts. If you prefer to attach to a wooden fence post, attach the hinge to the front of the house instead of the back.

Placement

Now that you’ve learned how to build butterfly houses, find an area of the garden where butterflies will be able find an abundant supply of nectar. Attract butterflies to your garden with brightly colored flowers such as yellow, red and blue. Annual flowers of all types bloom throughout the growing season and provide plenty of food for your little visitors. The University of Minnesota recommends planting single bloom flowers as they produce more nectar than showy double blooms. Butterfly caterpillars also need a good food source so be sure to choose plants that are tasty to both caterpillars and adult butterflies.