Buzzword: Pollinator Friendly

bee on flower

As a beekeeper, I always smile when I hear the words “pollinator friendly.” That means more nectar and pollen for my bees! Besides European honey bees, Colorado has supports about 945 species of bees; 250 species of butterflies; 1,000 species of moths; 300 species of beetles; 18 species of bats; and 4 species of hummingbirds, according to the Colorado Department of Agriculture. All of these are important ecologically. As good stewards of the land, we should do what we can to support them and be pollinator friendly. 

The most obvious way to encourage pollinators in your yard is by planting flowering plants. Pollinators need pollen! Flowering trees and shrubs are excellent sources of pollen and nectar. Some trees have flowers we don’t consider beautiful (such as Linden and Maple trees) but are favorites of bees and butterflies. This blog posts lists some pollinator favorites.

If you want to keep pollinators in your yard, you will need to have a rotation of flowers. This way, once the bees and butterflies find food in your yard, they keep returning or nest nearby always finding something for forage. Diversity of plant material also means diversity of wildlife.

Minimize the use of pesticides, even organic ones. Insecticides don’t discriminate between the “good” bugs and the “bad” ones so be sure you’ve carefully identified the problem bug and that a chemical solution is really necessary. ALWAYS read the instructions and NEVER exceed the maximum dosage if you do decide to use a pesticide. To avoid harming pollinators, don’t spray trees, shrubs, or any other plants while they are in flower.

Provide a water source. A shallow bird bath bowl is great for insects to also get a drink. Some pollinators prefer a mud puddle, so if you have a spot that you don’t mind being muddy, insects – butterflies and mason bees in particular – will thank you. Just be sure to change or agitate the water regularly to discourage mosquitoes.

driftwood Another good idea is to provide nesting spaces for our native bees. You can purchase or make some cute “bee houses” or you can provide some old wood. I have this piece of “driftwood” in my yard. (It’s not driftwood, it’s the root of a downed tree.) It’s an interesting bit of nature’s art in addition to providing for native bees.

To be really pollinator friendly, you want to leave a good amount of plant debris over the winter. Pollinators use the hollow stems of many perennial flowers, such as Salvia, Tall Sedum and Coneflower, to lay their eggs. A “good amount” of debris means that the leaves are not piled so deeply that the soil microbes will suffocate.

A pollinator garden is not only helpful to pollinator insects, it also attracts other beneficial insects and thereby attracts birds and other wildlife, too. Remember, when you’re attracting wildlife to your yard, you don’t get to choose only the pretty ones. In my yard, I enjoy watching butterflies, moths, spiders, hummingbirds, robins and finches. I also endure blackbirds, mourning doves, rabbits, snakes, mice and voles. I really, really enjoy my flowering plants which makes the wildlife in my yard a (mostly) happy by-product.

Garden Self-evaluation: October
Garden Self-Evaluation: September
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