Conventional yards that have little vegetation and immaculate lawns serve as ecological deserts. It doesn’t have to be this way, however. Creating a pollinator garden is one practical method to improve the wildlife-friendliness of your yard. The purpose of pollinator gardens is to attract beneficial insects, including bees and butterflies, and provide them with assistance throughout every step of their life cycle, from eggs to larvae to adults. Pollinators enhance our gardens’ health and yield in exchange. Food, shelter, and security should all be available in pollinator gardens. Here are some pointers for stocking your yard with these necessities.
Give Pollinators Food
Pollinators need certain plant species to support their growth in order to complete their life cycles.
Plant flora that are indigenous.
According to Susan Carpenter, curator of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum’s native plant area, “native plants are important to pollinators in a region because they have evolved with them.” As a result, compared to non-native plants, they end up sustaining a larger variety and number of insects. Carpenter also suggests steering clear of non-native species that seem to be useful to pollinators but aren’t as good as native ones, such butterfly bushes (Buddleia spp.).
In order to provide pollinators with a steady supply of food throughout the growing season, it’s critical to cultivate native plants that bloom at various times. Understanding the life cycles of the pollinators you are attempting to attract is also beneficial. For instance, you should include plants in your garden that will nourish monarch butterflies both as adults and as caterpillars if your goal is to help them.
“They’re trying to force the native plants into more of a [traditional] garden mold where things stay the same,” says Carpenter, explaining why people sometimes get dissatisfied. Accept that your native flora could behave and appear a bit differently from what you’re accustomed to in order to prevent this. The Xerces Society and Pollinator Partnership provide lists of native species that are good pollinators in your region.
Let your grass grow flowers.
Feeding pollinators may also come from common yard flowers like dandelions and clover. According to Matthew Shepherd, head of outreach and education at the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, “flowers in your lawns are better for bees.”
Just mow less often and let your grass grow longer to let your lawn blossom. According to research, lawns that are mowed every two weeks as opposed to weekly attract more bees.1. In order to encourage the growth of these blooms, Shepherd explains, “We would like people to be less intensive with their lawn management, mowing every two weeks, maybe mowing at a higher level.”
Additionally, a variety of conservation initiatives, such as Slow Mow Summer and No Mow May, seek to improve the habitats for pollinators on our lawns. Installing a bee lawn is a great way to go beyond. There are now bee lawn seed mixes available online and via many garden stores, including ones that employ solely native wildflowers.
Give Pollinators a Place to Stay
Wintering grounds and nesting areas are essential for pollinators. There are several ways you may use these elements in your pollinator garden.
Make sure your landings are gentle.
Carpenter emphasizes the need of creating “soft landings” in your environment, especially for moths and butterflies. Larvae of moths and butterflies often consume native tree leaves. When they are prepared to become pupae, they descend from the crowns of the trees and spend the winter in the dirt or leaf litter below. You may provide these lovely insects comfy resting spots by growing native plants under your trees and keeping the surrounding plant detritus and leaf litter alone.
Drop the leaves.
An project called “Leaving the Leaves” urges individuals to forgo cleaning up fallen leaves from their yards during the autumn season. The leaves then provide crucial habitat for pollinators to overwinter. According to Shepherd, you don’t have to leave leaves precisely where they fall, but you also don’t want to leave them in areas where they may cause issues. On the other hand, it’s better to use leaves around shrub bases as mulch for your flower beds rather than bark mulch.
Reevaluate your spring cleaning.
Although it may be tempting to begin springtime yard cleanups early, doing so is detrimental to pollinators that overwinter. For these insects to come out of hibernation, the temperature must be warm. You may make sure that these sleeping insects are not mistakenly thrown out with plant trash by postponing spring cleaning and keeping some stems and leaf litter in situ.
Create mounds of bush.
A number of butterflies, moths, and bees use brush heaps as nesting places and overwintering habitat. These piles might be made of leaves, dead wood, or chopped stems. You may add brush heaps to discrete garden areas where they are hidden from view. Carpenter has also seen folks making beautiful brush arrangements in their front yards that resemble haystacks.
Give the earth a little bit of bareness.
Another crucial—though often disregarded—aspect of pollinator gardening is leaving the soil bare. According to Shepherd, nesting ground is used by almost 70% of the 3600 species of native bees found in the United States. They need access to undisturbed soil in order to accomplish this. Thus, don’t be scared to leave certain spaces devoid of mulch, grass, and plants.
Additional Things to Think About
To keep things reasonable, consider the following advice before you begin building your pollinator garden.
Begin modestly.
Shepherd states, “We could be doing something better with these millions of acres of essentially barren habitat, [that] we could be transforming in some way to make it better for wildlife.” We don’t have to finish everything all at once, however. When it comes to creating a more pollinator-friendly yard, start small. Shepherd continues, “Just take on what you feel you can handle and don’t get overwhelmed.”
Learn the regulations of your community.
Certain homeowner organizations and governments have restrictions on what you may do with your yard. Before you begin creating a pollinator garden, make sure you are aware of the regulations in your city. Consider creating the pollinator garden in your rear, where it is less noticeable, if your neighborhood has restrictions on what you may do in your front yard. Shepherd explains, “That’s sometimes called the mullet gardening approach because it’s long and shaggy in the back and neat and tidy in the front.”
Inform your neighbors.
According to Shepherd, many gardeners nowadays want to create habitat for bees and other species. For many, however, the idea is still novel. As a result, you may wish to inform your neighbors of your efforts and think about posting signs designating your yard as a pollinator habitat.
Ultimately, you’ll be supporting the growth of the bees, butterflies, and other pollinators in your area by using at least a few of these techniques at home.
