Designing
a Beautiful Garden for You and the Pollinators
By Melinda Myers
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[March 16, 2020]
You
don’t need a prairie or large lot to attract and support
pollinators. A meadow or informal, formal and even container gardens
can bring in bees, butterflies and hummingbirds to help pollinate
plants. It’s just a matter of selecting the right plants, adjusting
your maintenance practices, and skipping the pesticides.
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Create your garden by converting a few square feet
of lawn, garden bed or front yard into a pollinator-friendly garden.
You may want to start by switching out part of an existing garden or
container to more pollinator-friendly flowers.
Expand your planting options by converting a portion of your lawn
into a pollinator garden. Outline the bed with a hose or rope.
Remove the sod, add compost as needed to improve drainage and you’ll
be ready to plant.
Simplify and dress up your efforts by using an easy-to-assemble
raised garden kit like the Pollinator Garden Bed (gardeners.com).
Its long-lasting cedar planks slide into aluminum corners to create
a hexagonal bed. Get creative while increasing the garden’s size by
adding additional sections to create a honeycomb or other
interesting design.
Mark the outline of the raised bed you select. Cut the grass short
and cover with newspaper. Set your raised bed in place and fill with
a quality planting mix. Mulch four to six inches surrounding the
raised bed for ease of mowing and to eliminate the need to hand
trim.
Once your planting bed is prepared, you’re ready to plant. Include
single daisy-like black-eyed Susans, coneflowers, and asters that
allow visiting insects to rest and warm when sipping on nectar or
dining on pollen. Add a few tubular flowers for butterflies and
hummingbirds. They both like bright colors and can be seen visiting
salvias, penstemon and nasturtiums. And don’t forget the bees that
are attracted to bright white, yellow, blue and ultraviolet colors.
You’ll find them visiting these and other blossoms like catmint,
sweet alyssum and perennial geranium.
Include spring, summer and fall bloomers to keep pollinators
visiting and well fed throughout the season. You’ll enjoy the
seasonal changes along with the color and motions the visitors
provide. Include early spring perennials and bulbs to attract
visitors in early spring as they search for much-needed food. Add
fall flowers to help prepare them for winter or migration to their
winter homes. Those in milder climates will want to add some
pollinator-friendly flowers to support and attract pollinators
wintering in their backyard.
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Plant flowers in groups for greater design impact and
to reduce the energy pollinators expend when gathering nectar and
pollen from one flower to the next. Provide plants with enough space
to reach their mature size. Temporarily fill in voids with annuals
like salvia, single zinnias and nicotiana that also attract
pollinators.
Don’t let all the plant and design possibilities overwhelm you into
inaction.Gardener’s Supply Company has plans for designing gardens
to attract bees, butterflies and hummingbirds plus tips on keeping
them safe in your garden.
Mulch the soil with leaves annually. It suppresses weeds, conserves
moisture, improves the soil and provides homes for many beneficial
insects.
Allow healthy plants and grasses to stand for winter. These provide
homes for many beneficial insects and food for birds. Wait as long
as possible to clean up your garden in spring. If needed, pile
clippings out of the way to allow beneficial insects to escape these
winter homes once temperatures warm. Then shred and compost the
plant debris in summer.
As your gardens flourish, you will want to create more
pollinator-friendly spaces. Your efforts will be rewarded with
beautiful flowers, increased harvest and the added color and motion
these visitors provide.
Melinda Myers has written more than 20 gardening books, including
Small Space Gardening. She hosts The Great Courses “How to Grow
Anything” DVD series and the Melinda’s Garden Moment TV & radio
segments. Myers is a columnist and contributing editor for Birds &
Blooms magazine and was commissioned by Gardeners Supply for her
expertise to write this article. Her web site is
www.MelindaMyers.com.
[Photo courtesy of Gardener’s Supply
Company] |