Looking how to attract pollinators to your garden? Here I review some tips and tricks to help make your garden an inviting place no pollinator would want to miss!
As I began to develop my garden, and continue to develop, one thing has been of utmost importance to me…how can I help the pollinators around me, and thereby help improve the overall health of my garden? I made it a goal of mine to focus on how I can make an impact on my surrounding environment, even with a petite garden. I found with even small changes you can make a big impact.
Why Do We Want to Attract Pollinators?
So what are pollinators and why should we care? Well, firstly pollinators are our little insect and mammal friends who help do just that.. pollinate! Pollinators include bees, birds, wasps, butterflies and small mammals to name a few. The act of pollination itself is when the pollen is carried, by a pollinator, from flower to flower or plant to plant. The act of pollination leads to fertilization for flowers and plants. This helps fruit bearing plants to develop and grow their fruit or plants to grow and create seeds to continue the cycle of life. YAY!!
Unfortunately, many pollinators are at risk due to loss of habitats, overuse of many harmful chemicals in gardens and landscapes, invasive species and spread of diseases. Honeybees in particular are in desperate need of assistance, with many colonies collapsing in the last ten years.
How to Attract Bees and Butterflies?
Pollinator Hotels/Houses
Pollinator hotels and homes serve as a safe environment for your pollinator to reproduce. Typically they tend to nest in little nooks and crannies of trees or other small spaces, this just helps save them the step of having to search for one. Additions like these to your garden space help to provide an additional safe space as an option. You also do not have to buy a hotel or home and can simply make one. There are numerous how-to’s with a quick Google search. One quick way to find out if your hotel has guests… the mud “door” at the end! (Seen above in my own pollinator hotel) If interested in making your own, The National Geographic has a fantastic instructional PDF to help!
Here are also a few great options I found on Amazon:
What To Plant?
Native Planting
Native planting means choosing to add plants to your garden that are native to your climate. The soil and climate conditions closely match where they would normally occur. One of the benefits to using native plants is they require less maintenance than non native planting. This is due in part to needing fewer fertilizers and less frequent watering needed in order to become established. An additional and important benefit to native planting is the surrounding ecosystem is supported. Simply put, native planting helps to provide a source of food and shelter and attracts pollinators and local wildlife in!
If you ever have any questions is a plant is native, ask your local garden center or do a quick search on the web. For example, I was happy to learn one of my favorite plants, hydrangeas, are native to Maine! So I planted two this past year!
How to Keep The Pollinators Happy and Healthy
Organic Gardening
Not only is going pesticide free good for the overall health of your pollinators but also your garden as a whole. This is key to keeping and attracting pollinators in your garden. Additionally, it’s a good idea to consider switching to pesticide free gardening especially if you plan to eat what you grow.
There are also organic fertilizers you can add to your garden which help to provide nutrients that may be lacking naturally in your soil. These can include fish emulsion, blood meal, bone meal, or phosphorus supplementation. I recommend testing your soil to see what nutrients may be lacking in your soil. Sometimes all you really need is just some good ol’ fashioned compost added to your soil.
Additionally, there are chemical free deterrents you can try with your gardening to keep away those pesky earwigs, slugs, aphids and more! While some natural options may not be 100% effective, they do help. Examples can include: crushed seaweed, leaving an open container of beer, coffee grounds etc. A quick search will lead you to a number of different safe and organic repellant recipes you could try!
Additionally, there are great pollinator friendly organic fertilizers out there. You can easily make your own, or purchase at most gardening and hardware stores, as well Amazon too!
- Compost, egg shells, coffee grounds.
- Fish emuslion
- Blood meal, bone meal
Landscaping to Attract Pollinators
Flower Beds
Another option to help attract pollinators to your garden is by landscaping in more flower beds. This is something I will personally continue to work on in my own garden. My goal is to fit in as many flower beds as possible into my petite garden! This is an obvious one, if there are more flowers planted… more pollinators will follow! Also, who wouldn’t say yes to more flowers 🙂
Dual Purpose Garden Structures
Water Features
Lastly, water features are a great addition to any garden, big or small. Our pollinators depend on water just like you and I. By adding a water feature for them to stop and have a drink, you will help to attract pollinators to your very own garden! The less distance they have to travel the more likely they will stick around to pollinate your garden. Win win!
Making a few simple changes can drastically help your little pollinator friends and help to attract more birds and bees to your gardens now!
Let me know you do!
-Kate
Disclaimer: This website is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.