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While some plants may thrive living close to each other, letting you create a "living mulch" that blocks weedy species, others might get overcrowded, which could reduce their bloom. However, be sure to space plants out according to their needs.
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It's easy to underestimate how many plants comfortably fit into a well-grown garden - and for pollinators, the more the better. Sketch out your space and create a list of pollinator-friendly plants you'd like to feature. Take note of how you can fill those gaps from all viewpoints in the garden and across the growing season. These spots should be your go-to fillers for the upcoming season. How Do I Approach My Pollinator Garden Design?Įach year in late spring before you cut back last year's growth, identify spots in the garden that aren't currently filled with evergreen perennials or dead stems. Don't worry, even shady spots can attract plenty of pollinators.
POLLINATOR GARDEN DESIGN FULL
If there's full sun in the morning but shade in the afternoon, focus on shade plants. If there's shade in the morning but blazing sun in the afternoon, focus on full-sun plants. The Xerces Society lists recommended native pollinator plants by state or region to help you make this decision.Īfter you've pinpointed your region, pay close attention to where the sun hits the areas you'd like to plant. What's your growing zon e? Make sure the plants you choose for your native pollinator garden are well-adapted to your climate and the pollinators in your area. To attract pollinators during these times, consider planting early-blooming bulbs such as snowdrops, crocus, creeping phlox, species tulips and anemones, and late blooming plants such as asters, sedum and goldenrod. Pollinators, however, often appear much earlier in the spring and well into fall after many plants have ceased blooming. Many popular pollinator plants such as echinacea (aka coneflower), liatris, asclepias (aka milkweed), rudbeckia and annuals such as zinnias or cosmos don't begin to bloom until June, then continue through late summer. To attract insects, you'll want to focus on diverse plants that bloom throughout the growing season in a wide range of colors, shapes and sizes. Plants such as moonflowers are night-blooming with large, white flowers that bats stick their heads into in search of nectar. If you're looking to attract hummingbirds, you'll want to include the tube-shaped red, orange or pink flowers that long-billed hummers favor. If you're looking to attract bees, you'll want to design your garden to include plants that bees like: flat, bright-colored flowers that grow in full sun. Pollinators have certain food preferences. Expanding your garden can create a refuge for these essential workers to continue to thrive outside of their shrinking native habitats. Many pollinators use plants' flowers, stems and the soil around them for breeding and protection. When you add pollinator-friendly plants to your garden, you help expand the pollinators' food sources and breeding range. Fish and Wildlife Service, 75% of all flowers require pollinators, including most fruits and vegetables. In turn, each plant species has its own need for pollination.
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Each of these animals is on the hunt for pollen and/or nectar to sustain themselves. But pollinators also include critters such as butterflies, moths, birds, flies and even bats. When you think of pollinators, you likely think of bees. Here's what you need to know to get started. When I dig into a project, I ask myself the "five Ws" and one "H" learned in grade school: Who? Why? What? When? Where? How? The "who" is you! You can easily create a pollinator garden, and you may already be closer than you think. You can strengthen your connection to that natural world - and better support it - through a solid pollinator garden design. Even spartan gardens are teeming with life above and below the soil, including species of plants, fungi, insects and animals.
![pollinator garden design pollinator garden design](https://ecoscapedesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/pollinator-friendly-pathway.jpg)
Pollinators are an essential part of the complex ecosystems that make up our gardens.