I know that I am a small voice in a very large chorus calling for providing more food and habitat for pollinators in the garden. At this point most gardeners are very concerned about colony collapse of honey bees and about planting milkweed for butterflies. Gardeners are also very aware of the shrinking habitats of many other beneficial insects. In my own yard and even neighborhood I see very few flying insects. Living in an urban/suburban where everyone has a yard nearly full of grass, there isn't enough for insects to eat and few places for them to nest. The other part of it is though there is a lot of press in the USA about the disappearance of honey bees, honey bees aren't native to the new world. They were brought over from Europe centuries ago. There are lots of native bees to the United States, thousands of different types that live all over North America. Here is a great list of some of them Native Bees of North America, they like different flowers and a lot of them are solitary. My favorites are the solitary bumblebees that are ground nesting and squash bees. Squash bees are adorable, sometimes I find them sleeping in squash flowers in the morning, waiting for the sun to warm them back up. Solitary bumblebees are also adorable, though I usually find them after scaring them awake.
I will be making my yard more insect friendly. This benefits myself, by making my fruit trees and vegetable garden more productive. It is also good for the environment. Here are the vows I am making to make my yard a more diverse ecosystem.
1. I vow to leave my yard a little higher and not try to remove all the weeds from it. Part of me would be totally fine with never mowing my yard but I think I can be ticketed by the city if I don't. When I mow my yard a little on the long side, I keep more of the clover flowers. In fact I think I am going to seed more clover into my yard, I love seeing the flowers all summer and of course, the flowers are frequented by bees. Leaving it a little taller also makes it stay green a little longer into summer. It is a pretty common practice to not water lawns in my city during the dry summers. taller grass also eaves more places for insects to hang out, like spiders and ants. By not trying to take out all the dandelions, early emerging bees, like mason bees, get something to snack on in my yard. If they come for the dandelions, they might stay for cherry trees that are blooming about the same time. In the summer, nipplewort throws up their flowers and can lure more bees in my yard.
2. Next year I am getting mason bees and making a bee hotel. There are 150 types of Mason bees in North America. They vary by region but all are solitary and they all nest in tunnels. You can buy mason bee larva to release into your yard and they can find their own places to nest, however, they may not settle down nearby. So building a bee hotel for them is a good idea. Most mason bees are active early in the year so I must make sure there are things to eat in early spring. I have that partially covered by early blooming fruit trees and dandelions but I will need to look into it more. They also need mud to repack their tunnels so a bare patch in the yard will be a good plan. Here is a good page on making and managing places for mason bees Attract Mason Bees.
3. Plant some native plants to bring native insects to my yard. The Xerces Society has some amazing lists broken down by narrow regions through the US here Pollinator Plant Lists. I fully recommend these lists since they are really detailed. I already know I want goldenrod and asters, the combination late in the year is really pretty. I also have my eye on some vine maple cultivars, as mentioned in a previous post. Planting natives in my yard is already in my mind because I work with native plants currently so I can see how they look in combination and get ideas for plantings. Plus I know where to get the native plants I like, which nursery gets and grows what plants. There are advantages to working in the plant industry when planning and designing gardens.
4. Encourage my neighbors to do similar things. No pollinator garden is an island and making a great garden in only my yard will be good, but it can get better. Getting a few of my neighbors to plant some bee friendly flowers will give the bees more places to live. Some of this will be by talking to them directly about what I am doing and why. A majority of the work will be showing how pretty and vibrant my yard will be. Nothing encourages gardening activity like having a really nice garden in the neighborhood. Maybe it is jealousy, maybe it is a curb appeal thing but, one really nice flower filled yard can encourage other people to garden too. Plus, I will be able to divide out plants and gift them around the block. It may be a little devious but preaching at people about the importance of pollinator habitat can backfire. nobody likes being lectured at, most people like free low maintenance plants.
5. Using a minimal amount of herbicide/pesticides in my yard. I garden mostly organically anyway so this will be easy for me. I only use herbicide when there is no other way of controlling the weed. Pesticides are saved for when I see damage that is beyond what I can stand. Even then I follow all the guidelines for the herbicide/pesticide and use the appropriate herbicide/pesticide for the job.
I know that this will not all happen overnight. This will be a multiyear process that I will be committing to. I will be celebrating my victories through extra garden bounty and by watching the increase in activity in my yard.
