gardening for pollinators
DESCRIPTION
Gardening for pollinators. Attracting bees, butterflies, and birds to your garden. B ees. Decline in health, populations Colony collapse disorder, tracheal mites, foul brood, pesticide use, commercial beekeeping - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
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Gardening for pollinators
Attracting bees, butterflies, and birds to your garden
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Bees• Decline in health, populations• Colony collapse disorder, tracheal mites, foul
brood, pesticide use, commercial beekeeping • Honeybees provide over $3 billion in
pollination services annually in the US alone
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Fear of bees is irrational if you aren’t allergic
• Bees typically will not sting humans unless provoked
• Bees die after single stinging incident• Swarming bees are most docile– They have no brood or honey to protect
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Bees forage throughout the growing season
• Early spring to late fall as weather and nectar availability permit
• To attract bees, plant a variety of forage plants that flower at different times of the year
• Ease the burden of long MN winter with early- and late-flowering plant species
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EARLY-flowering plants
• Overwintering garden plants, early weeds (ex: dandelions), crocus, hyacinth, borage, calendula, lilac, alfalfa, red clover, buckwheat, apples, cherries, chokeberries, Juneberries, pussy willow, currant, alder, bleeding heart, hawthorn, mountain ash
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MIDSEASON-flowering plants
• Bee balm, cosmos, echinacea, snapdragons, foxglove, hosta, globe thistle, lavender, Liatris, skullcap, mullein, verbena, Baptisia, buckeye, linden/basswood, raspberry, French marigold, fuschia, many annuals
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LATE-flowering plants
• Zinnias, sedum, asters, witch hazel, goldenrod, chrysanthemum, snapdragon, chelone (AKA obedient plant), Joe pye weed, perennial sunflower, helenium
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Native bee food plants
• From the University of MN:
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Qualities to look for in bee forage plants:
• Your bee garden should be at least 1 meter in diameter or bees may ignore it
* Single-flowering varieties– Doubles are pretty but they produce less nectar
• Open-pollinated (non-hybrids)– Bees also need pollen for protein and hybrids are
usually sterile so they produce little or no pollen
No!
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Other bee-friendly actions:
• Don’t use broad-spectrum or synthetic pesticides in your garden (or anywhere!)
• Provide bare ground for ground-nesting bees• Let brambles or hedgerows grow wild and
weedy• Make a wooden nest box for mason bees
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How to provide habitat for Minnesota’s native bees:
• Practice no-till gardening • Leave logs, snags, stumps, and clumps of grass
for bees to nest in• Plant hedgerows with dogwood, pussy willow,
sand cherry, brambles, or other flowering plants
• Don’t spray chemicals in bee habitats
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Gardening to attract native bees:
• Use native plants• Choose several colors of flowers– blue, purple, violet, white, & yellow
• Plant flowers in clumps• Include flowers of different shapes– Bees come in all sizes and have differing tongue
lengths
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Mason bees
• Solitary• Only live in existing holes (don’t make new
ones)• Very gentle, rarely sting
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Mining bees
• Solitary• Not aggressive, rarely sting• Habitat: exposed, well-drained soil
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Gardening to attract butterflies
• Butterflies are also pollinators (so are flies, beetles, male mosquitos…)
• Group similar-colored flowers together– More attractive to butterflies
• Avoid double flowers• Choose plants with varying bloom times – Annuals: constant blooming– Critical time: mid- to late summer
• Choose plants that produce multiple florets with high nectar content
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Butterfly gardening
• For specific butterflies, research host plant of caterpillars– Monarch: milkweed– Swallowtail: fennel, dill– Bog fritillary: willow, violets, smartweed– Silvery checkerspot: black-eyed Susan, sunflower
* Keep in mind that caterpillars may do some damage to your plants– Usually not serious or enough to kill the plant
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Butterfly & caterpillar food
• Butterflies usually feed on something other than what caterpillars feed on– Some butterflies lack mouthparts, never eat– Some butterflies eat rotting fruit, dung, mud,
carrion, or nectar
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For the butterflies that eat nectar:
• General butterfly-attracting plants:– Lilac, coneflower, butterfly weed, milkweed,
butterfly bush, asters, most plants in the mint family (sage, oregano, rosemary, lavender, lemon balm, basil, thyme…)
– (extensive lists in handouts)
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Other considerations
• Provide wet sand or mud for butterflies– Males need these mineral salts to complete life cycle– Called “puddling”
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Other considerations
• Provide a hedgerow of butterfly-attracting plants– Butterfly wings are delicate, easily tattered– Hedgerow protects them from damaging winds
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Other considerations
• DON’T SPRAY PESTICIDES!– If you must use them, choose organic & target
specific– Don’t use on or near butterfly garden/habitat
(esp. Bt for caterpillar pests)
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Speaking of caterpillar pests:
• Watch out for these destructors in your landscape– Gypsy moth– Tent caterpillar– Cutworm– Army worm– Imported cabbage looper
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Cheap & easy butterfly attractors
• Sugar water in a tray or wicked jar
• Tray of rotting fruit
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Gardening for birds
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Why create a bird garden?
• Birds are losing habitat to human activities• A third of North America’s native birds are
experiencing population decline• Birds help us– Pollinate some flowers– Eat pest insects– Add to natural beauty of our landscapes
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Attracting birds
• Plants that attract birds:– Aster, bachelor buttons, black-eyed Susan,
chrysanthemum, columbine, marigold, sunflowers, cedar, cherry, crabapple, dogwood, hawthorn, plum, Juneberry, sumac, blackberry, boxwood, elderberry, grape, holly, honeysuckle, myrtle, raspberry, witch hazel, yew, viburnum….
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Other things that attract birds
• Bird feeders• Nesting sites– birdhouses
• Brush piles & dead trees– Good habitat/shelter
• Water features– Birdbaths, ponds
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Birds can also be pests
• Eat berries & other crops• Nest where you don’t want them• Poop• attack
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solutions
• Share your bounty & tolerate minor losses• Dedicate a less-used part of your yard to
bird/wildlife habitat• Bird-proof the things you don’t want to share– Ex: bird netting for berries
• Don’t jump to conclusions– Birds in garden may be eating pests
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Learn more about native pollinators:
• Xerces Society Pollinator Conservation Planning Short Course– June 13, 2012 – 9am-4pm in Duluth– $45 – Register online at www.xerces.org– www.xerces.org is an EXCELLENT resource for
more info on pollinators
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Problem-solving with plants
Wet soil, dry soil, shade, and deer issues
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Problem #1:Wet soil/standing water
• Solution: plant a rain garden– Shallow depression filled with flood-tolerant
shrubs, flowers, and grasses that collect & filter storm runoff
– Attracts birds & butterflies– Reduces mosquito habitat
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Problem #1: wet soil/standing water
• Plants to use (list provided in handout):– Obedient plant, prairie dropseed, daylily, Joe pye
weed, boneset, willow, tamarack, river birch, caterpillar grass, cardinal flower, swamp milkweed, switchgrass, lupine, Veronica, Liatris…
– Bigger plants take up more water
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Rain Garden Placement• Easiest to create in low point in yard– Where water naturally flows already
• Next to hard, impermeable surfaces or where more water flows– Alley, sidewalk, driveway, flow from gutters– Keep it @ least 10 ft from buildings
• Avoid damage to foundation
• Best to start with design before you start digging
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Problem #2: sandy/dry soil
• Very common in this area• Plant in depressions and mulch to preserve water– Set transplants slightly lower than soil surface
• For small spaces, you can add organic material– Increase water-holding capacity of soil– Mix 50/50 with existing soil when transplanting– Might only be temporary
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Problem #2: sandy/dry soil
• Select drought-tolerant, native plants– Ex: Juneberry, chokeberry, bearberry, butterfly
bush, smoketree, creeping juniper, spicebush, honeysuckle, bush cherry, sumac, currant, Rugosa rose, lilac, viburnum, Artemisia, Penstemon, Echinacea, sage, yarrow, tickseed, lamb’s ear
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Problem #3: shade
• Many tall trees in the area• Selective culling or pruning can help• Or choose shade-tolerant plants
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Problem #3: shade
• Shade-tolerant plants:– Honeysuckle, lady’s mantle, valerian, lenten rose,
goldenseal, wild ginger, blue cohosh, black cohosh, hostas, ferns, trillium, bleeding heart, alder, beech, redbud, witch hazel, ironwood, hemlock
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Problem #3: shade
• Shade-tolerant edibles: – ostrich fern, serviceberry, wintergreen, lettuce,
spinach, Swiss chard, cabbage, bok choy, kohlrabi, chokecherry, highbush cranberry, chokeberry
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Problem #4: deer
• Exclusion is the best deterrent– Tall fence– 3D fence– Outward-angled fence
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Problem #4: deer
• Cheaper deterrents:– Dried blood around garden perimeter– Plantskydd– Repellex (for ornamentals only)• Capsaicin systemic—makes plants spicy!• Works on white cedar (a favorite food of deer)
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Deer’s favorite foods
• White cedar• Apples• Hostas• Clematis• Roses• Azalea• Hibiscus• Phlox• White pine• Mountain ash
• Asiatic lilies• Burning bush• Endive• Lettuce• Bitter greens• Crabapple • Crocus• Pansy• Flowering almond• Hydrangea
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Deer-resistant plants
• Yarrow• Ageratum• Barberry• Lamb’s ear• Allium• Columbine• Wax begonia• Coneflower• Heliotrope• Sweet alyssum
• Daffodil• Peony• Poppy• Geranium• Russian sage• Marigold• Bittersweet• Forsythia• Scots pine• lilac
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Selecting deer resistant plants
• IN GENERAL, they are:– Furry– Thorny (exception: roses)– Not green– Toxic
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Proper planting techniques
For trees, shrubs, and perennials
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Trees & shrubs
• Materials:– Shovel– Compost or manure– Mulch (optional)– Tree protector (optional)
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Trees & shrubs• Method:– Dig a hole as deep as pot and twice as wide– Mix extant soil with compost 50/50– Place plant in hole
• Separate/spread pot-bound roots– Backfill with 50/50 mix– Mound soil around plant
• Make a small “moat” around plant to hold water– Cover with mulch
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Perennials & annuals
• Materials:– Shovel– Compost/fertilizer (optional)– Mulch (optional)
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Perennials & annuals
• Methods:– Dig hole @ least as big as pot– Mix extant soil with compost or fertilizer
(optional)– Place plant in hole• Separate/spread roots if rootbound
– Mulch (optional)