Follow these expert-approved tips to attract bees, birds, butterflies, and more to your garden.
Do you want to attract wildlife that will improve the health of your garden? Consider creating a garden full of flowers that these animals love. When pollinators like bees and butterflies feast on these varieties, they pollinate them and promote growth, which helps your entire garden grow.
While bees are among the most well-known pollinators, there are many other pollinators that also contribute to the health of your flowers and plants, says Megan Foster, category director of perennials and bulbs at American Meadows. "Season after season, butterflies, moths, hummingbirds, wasps, bees, bats and beetles search for food and host plants in our changing world," he said. “A good pollinator is one that feeds in its area and helps maintain our fragile ecosystem.”
To make your garden a welcoming place for these helpful animals, follow these tips to help you create a busy and lively pollinator garden this season.
Related: How to Grow and Care for Extinct Bee Balm in Your Garden
Choose the right plants
The best way to attract pollinators to your garden, says Chris Kaiser, president and CEO of TurfMutt, is to grow plenty of flowers, plants, and trees. Learn which plants to grow with our guide to varieties that attract birds (and other pollinators) and butterflies. You're spoiled for choice - everything from oak trees to mountain cardinals can attract beneficial wildlife.
Creating a successful pollinator garden is about more than choosing the right flowers or shrubs; How you plant it is also important. Arranging the flowers in groups rather than individually makes it easier for pollinators to find them. Also, be sure to research varieties that are profitable in your area. "Check your climate zone to see what landscape options support the birds, bees, butterflies, and other wildlife that live in your area," says Kiser.
It is grown for several seasons.
Make sure to choose plants that bloom continuously throughout the year. "It will help create a bright and colorful garden and provide food and shelter for animals and insects all year round," Kaiser said. "Use the National Park Service's Regional Environmental Pollinator Plant Guide to choose plants that benefit pollinators in your local climate." Growing nectar- and pollen-rich flowers in your area year-round will feed pollinators outside of the normal growing season.
Create a hydration station
Like plants, pollinators need water; So make sure you build a clean water supply in your pollinator garden. Kaiser said that a shallow dish of water filled with rocks or marbles allows organisms to hydrate and walk at the same time. Instead, consider installing a birdbath, Foster adds.
Pollinator garden compost
Preserving soil nutrients in a pollinator garden is especially important for visitors arriving by air or land. One way to do this is to save grass clippings. Instead of bagging it, let it rot in your garden, says Kiser. "It's a great natural fertilizer and will provide a home for bugs, worms, insects, and other garden critters," he says. Depending on the season, fallen leaves can be used in place of the lawn, but regular compost can also be used.
Avoid chemicals
When creating a pollinator garden, avoid using harsh chemicals such as systemic insecticides. "They do more harm than the user wants, they kill or inhibit the reproduction of most organisms that we depend on," said Foster. Once you start using these chemicals, it can be difficult to get rid of them because they absorb into plant tissues and soil, he explains.
Protect pollinator habitats
As the seasons change, avoid excessive cutting of grass and vegetation, which provide nesting and shelter sites for pollinators, especially in the fall. "The rust that we usually see on natural grasses and perennials in the fall kills off their winter habitat," Foster says. “Be sure to leave the stalks in place as the days cool down to protect pollinators during the winter. Adding artificial nest blocks or old tree stumps also helps.”
Be careful even if the good weather returns. Don't sweep around 60 degrees constantly until spring, this will help kill garden bugs when they come out of hibernation.
