Last winter’s annual Eastern monarch butterfly population was the second lowest on record. Many of the roughly 4,000 wild bee species native to North America are also under threat. Habitat replacement by farmland, lawns and urban development poses one of the major threats to these pollinators and other beneficial insects such as ladybugs that eat pests. Many flowering plants and trees, including an estimated 35 percent of the world’s food cropsrely on pollinators for reproduction.
As a gardener in the Midwest, I am surrounded by farmland and housing developments that have largely replaced the tall grass prairie that provided habitat for pollinators and other wildlife before European settlement. I decided to dedicate some of my outdoor space to these essential creatures. But before I could begin, I needed to figure out what plants would thrive in my yard.
The author tends one of his pollinator gardens. Photo by Pat Whalen
It is best to choose plants that are native to the area because they are suited to the local soil and climate. Pollinators have adapted to native plants; they have coexisted for hundreds of years. There are many native plants to choose from that are both attractive and provide habitat for pollinators.
“Be a planner, not a doer,” says Cydney Ross, outdoor education program director for Deep Roots KC, a nonprofit in Kansas City, Missouri.
Ross suggests taking photos at different times of day for at least a season to find out how many hours of sunlight each part of your yard gets. Pollinators feed in areas with six to eight hours of full sunlight each day.
I have planted pollinator habitat patches in my yards in Nebraska and Iowa, and for each location, I have learned to pay attention to the hours of sunlight after the trees have fully leafed out. When there are mature trees nearby, the hours of sunlight can vary quite a bit from early May to July!
Soil and moisture are other considerations. Ken Parker, a native plant grower in western New York and a consultant with Native Plant Guy Consulting, says there’s no need for elaborate soil tests. Just determine what type of soil you have—for example, is it clay, loam, or sand? To determine your soil type, I place a wet clump of soil that has a Play-Doh consistency in my hand. Sandy soils are gritty and difficult to clump, while clay soils are much stickier. Loam soils tend to be a mix of the two, feeling soft in your hand and forming a loose clump.
Next, I looked at where water was pooling in the yard to identify particularly wet areas. I work primarily with sandy and loamy soils and have found that the plants that thrive in my area can vary depending on the soil conditions. Creamy wild indigo and prairie seed plants are among the plants that do better in my sandy soil, while a variety of plants such as New England daisy, wild bergamot, and prairie grass (a short prairie grass) thrive in loamy soil.
When planting native plants, there is no need to add soil amendments such as peat moss and fertilizers. These plants are very hardy and do not need these amendments, as they will only encourage weed growth.
Once I understand the sunlight, soil, and moisture conditions, I can choose plants that are suitable for my yard environment.
The author’s pollinator garden in season two. Photo by Pat Whalen
State Native Plant Associations is a good place to start by finding a native plant organization and nursery that specializes in native plants. These organizations and nurseries are a good source of information for learning about the habitat requirements of different species and how to grow them. I have mail-ordered most of my native plants from area nurseries in my apartments and they have arrived in good condition.
Mature plants should be planted to start smaller pollinator gardens (less than about 250 to 500 square feet); they are more expensive than seeds, but they will grow faster, reducing weeding time.
I planted my first pollinator garden with a pre-made mix of native grass and wildflower seeds when I was in my 20s and a graduate student with a flexible schedule. I loved spending time hunched over a plant identification guide to know which seedlings I had planted and which weeds needed pulling. However, as I got older and wanted to spend less time weeding, I switched to planting small plants. I also preferred planting plants that matured faster when I started.
Parker recommends choosing an equal number of wildflowers that bloom in early spring, summer, and fall—he likes four in each season. “The more species you have, the more your habitat becomes a buffet” for different types of pollinators and adult larvae, which will also attract birds, he says.
My current garden has pollinator habitat patches with 20 native plant species; wildflowers bloom from May to early October. In my sloping, sunny front yard, I plant a five-foot-wide strip with taller species like hardy hellebores, wild bergamot, and common milkweed in the back and shorter prairie seed grass and smooth daisy in the front. Monarch butterfly larvae feed on milkweed, but adult monarchs and many other pollinators feed on the nectar and pollen of a wide variety of flowers––in the fall, the hardy seed flowers bloom with activity ranging from small bees to butterflies.
Near my vegetable garden are prairie alumroot, sweet coneflower, Joe Pye weed, and foxglove. Foxglove is one of my favorites. Its tubular white flowers are especially popular with ground bees and hummingbirds.
Grasses and sedges (grass-like plants with thin leaves) add texture, and their thick roots take up space, reducing weed growth. I like to include clumping grasses like little bluestem, which is host to the larvae of the skipper butterfly. I’ve also started planting more sedges around my flowering plants because they stay green early in the growing season and deter rabbits from eating other plants. As garden designer Benjamin Vogt of Monarch Gardens in Lincoln, Nebraska, says, “Sedges are the bodyguards of wildflowers.”
A healthy sedge plant. Photo by author
Before you start the actual planting, the area needs to be prepared by removing weeds and grass. This can be a lot of work, but there are a few methods that garden designers recommend––my favorite is to mulch my garden.
Mulch: Mow or weed your lawn and grass, then spread several layers of cardboard or newspaper for several weeks; add more mulch on top to hold the layers in place. Punch holes in the layers and plant your plants.
Solar: In the summer, tarp clear plastic tarps over your lawn to use heat to kill grass, weeds, and weed seeds. Leave them in place for two to three weeks in dry climates and several weeks in wet climates until the vegetation dies. Remove the tarp before planting in the fall.
Herbicides: This is the most controversial method. Glyphosate is very effective at killing grasses and weeds, but most pollinator experts avoid its use because of the potential impacts on human health, the environment, and the pollinators it is trying to attract.
Solar method for preparing an area with weeds and grass. Photo courtesy of Cydney Ross of Deep Roots KC
Each of my gardens is planted over time. Ross suggests that planning in stages, even when converting large parts of your lawn to pollinator habitat, will make the project affordable and manageable. And starting with a small area allows you to confirm which species thrive and what weed control methods work before expanding. Including native groundcovers as living mulch can also help reduce weeds.
During the first year, the tree should focus its energy on root development. To aid growth and reduce weed competition, I add a one- to two-inch layer of mulch after planting and water regularly for the first two weeks if there is no regular rain.
In the second and third years, letting the mulch decompose, cutting back weeds, and creating space for plants to grow will allow native plants to replace the mulch. “They’ll find where they’re happiest,” Parker says.
Proper garden preparation has paid dividends in creating a vibrant, hospitable habitat for pollinators and other wildlife. My squash plants thrive year after year thanks to natural insect pollination. I watch birds feast on caterpillars in the spring and summer and the seed heads of sweet black-eyed Susans and Joe Pye in the fall and winter. It’s a small step toward making my yard more welcoming to these creatures, but, selfishly, the joy I get from seeing a butterfly flutter by on a summer breeze or ground bees visit my flowers is immeasurable.
