Make your yard ‘bee-friendly’! It’s everywhere in the news these days. So how can you keep your garden a haven for pollinators of all types?
1. Keep it blooming – all season long
Have lots of different blooming plants – annuals, perennials, shrubs, trees, even weeds (ahem — wildflowers) for ample pollen and nectar for honey bees, bumble bees, and all those native bees — as well as other beneficial insects that hang out in your garden from spring to fall.
2. Use as few insecticides as possible
Usually pests and beneficial insects, like bees, manage to stay in balance. If the bad guys get out of hand, try Bacillus thuringiensis products, soaps, or oils that are less harmful to most pollinators.
3. Never spray pesticides when flowers are open
Bees are most likely to visit open flowers for their pollen and nectar. So pollinators and pesticides apart by spraying only before or after flowers are in bloom, or at least when they’re not open.
Worried about the pesticides on plants you buy at garden centers or nurseries? Talk to the growers. Most try to avoid using pesticides harmful to bees and are looking at options to control pests that won’t leave residues on the plants.