Make Your Backyard a Pollinator Oasis

from Glo - May 2023

The Invisible Workload of Moms

By Bethany Beebe

Whether or not you prize growing rows of radishes and columns of corn as part of a backyard garden, your planting selections affect the web of life. Pollinators like bees, beetles, and wasps, are small but powerful members of the ecological community that have a serious impact on the economy, too (1) . In the United States alone, over 100 crops require or are strongly assisted by pollinators whose value is estimated at $3 billion annually (1). With both economic gain and general environmental benefit in mind, you can forward the cause of pollinators in your own backyard.

Habitat loss and misuse of chemicals have proven themselves especially troublesome to pollinators, and you can play an active role in addressing these problems (2)

Habitat

Especially in urban areas, gardens provide oasis (2). Pollinators especially appreciate groupings of flowers that are close to one another, attracted by colorful blooms (2). Purdue Extension suggests having three types of flowers at a time blooming. A need for shelter from the rain, wind, and sun of the Hoosier landscape coupled with a need for food and water make your efforts as a gardener appreciated as the garden offers respite against forces of nature and hunger.

Chemical Use

Chemical controls can be quite troublesome to pollinators. Some of these agents can weaken immunity, leaving room for illness (2). When these agents are applied, using them early in the morning or around dusk is best from the perspective of the pollinator because they generally are least active during these times (2). Using spray chemicals instead of dust can reduce contact, as can establishing areas where no agents are applied (2). Mowing the yard to trim down the flowers of weeds and waiting to spray until blooms have fallen from garden flowers are also ways to mediate the struggle between hopes to forward the aesthetics of one’s yard and cause of helping our flying environmental benefactors of choice (2)

Selecting flowers

Protecting special garden visitors is an active concern, but the menu of plants from which the gardener might choose is extensive. For gardens here in Indiana, the Xerces Society offers these recommendations, among others. Early-season, we could enjoy wild geranium, Golden Alexanders, or cream wild indigo plants. Moving into warmer weather, smooth penstemon, swamp milkweed, or pale purple coneflower might grace the garden. Missouri ironwood, rattlesnake master, or prairie blazing star could be conversation starters during your summer garden parties. And smooth blue aster or wingstem could make later in the season just as look-worthy. For more suggested plantings, photos of the flowers, and a description of what each plant needs to flourish, check out the Xerces Society page (3). After making selections, planting patches of flower clumps closer together rather than further apart is preferred by pollinators. Generally, these plants prefer full sun as a more ideal

(1) https://www.xerces.org/pollinator-conservation