Want Pollinators to Visit Your Yard? Here’s How to Attract Them.
One way to protect the birds, bees, bats and beetles that help pollinate plants is by growing a garden that will help feed and nurture them. National Pollinator Week is a perfect time to plant a garden these creatures will love. Here’s how to get it off the ground.
Choose Your Plants – Start by identifying the “eco region” you live in. The Pollinator Partnership offers plant guides to attract pollinators for 32 different regions of the U.S., plus Canada. Some examples of eco regions are: the Sierran Steppe, the Southeastern mixed forest, prairie parkland (subtropical), Ouachita mixed forest, outer coastal and Lower Mississippi riverine. You can find the guide that’s right for your ecoregion here.
Learn About Your Eco Region – The guide to your ecoregion will describe your microclimate, general topography and the flora (plants) and fauna (animals) commonly found in your region. It’ll provide an estimate of the amount of rain that falls in your ecoregion annually, let you know when the first frost usually strikes, and when the last frost usually occurs, which normally signals when it’s time to plant.
Get Familiar With the Plant Traits the Pollinators Like – For example, bats prefer dull white, green or purple flowers with a strong musty odor emitted at night. On the other hand, bees prefer bright white, yellow or blue flowers that emit a fresh, mild scent and that have a sort of landing platform they can sit on, since they don’t extract pollen when they’re flying. Birdsneed strong perch supports and are attracted to scarlet, orange, red or white flowers. Pollinators are different animals, so the greater variety of plants you grow, the greater variety of pollinators you’ll attract.
Plant for Food – Flowers provide nectar and pollen, but fermenting fallen fruits also provide food for bees, beetles and butterflies.
Plant in Groups, and Plant a Lot – Planting in groups increases the efficiency by which the pollinator can feed on your plants. That makes it easier both to gather the pollen and to transfer the pollen to the same species, rather than depositing it on a plant that can’t use it.
Plant Many Different Plants – This “biodiversity” will attract and support a bevy of different pollinators while also making your garden more interesting and beautiful to behold.
Don’t Necessarily Weed – What may be a weed to you may be another great source of nectar and pollen to a pollinator. Before you pull a weed, make sure it’s not breakfast, lunch or dinner for the insects and birds you’ve started attracting to your yard.
Grow Different Sizes of Plants, but Also Leave Bare Soil – Different birds and insects inhabit plants at different heights, so make a variety available. Dead tree snags make good shelter, as does bare soil for ground nesting insects.
Provide Water – A pond with gently moving water so mosquitoes don’t proliferate provides drinking and bathing water for pollinators, as does a small container, like the bottom dish of a planter. Make sure the sides slope so the animals can approach the water without drowning.
Grow Organically – Skip the toxic pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers. Pollinators are small to tiny animals and even extremely smalldoses of potent chemicals can kill or harm them.
Plant for Beauty as Well as For Bounty – Make sure you enjoy your garden as much as the pollinators do. Plan your garden so you have something blooming spring, summer, fall and even winter. You may not drink the nectar of the plants you cultivate, but there’s no reason why you can’t relish their gorgeous blooms and rich fragrances.
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Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.
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Want Pollinators to Visit Your Yard? Here’s How to Attract Them.
