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Cornell University

Tompkins Pollinator Pathway

Engaging the Community to Restore Plant and Pollinator Biodiversity

Guides to Providing Habitat

Beyond providing food reserves through the planting of native plant species, it is important for pollinator gardens to provide habitat for native pollinators to nest and overwinter in. Whether this is “leaving the leaves”, keeping pithy stems, or creating a brush pile, each of these actions can create crucial habitat for native pollinators in the region.

Providing Habitat for Nesting

Providing nesting habitat is one of the best ways to support native pollinators. While planting native species can serve as important sources of food and nectar for native pollinators, it’s also critical to provide nesting habitat for pollinators to complete their life cycles. Nesting habitat can refer to numerous environments that help pollinators over the course of their lives, such as bare ground, logs or piles of brush on the ground, standing dead trees, and plants with pithy stems.

While different species of pollinators prefer, or require, different nesting habitats, there are a few actions to consider to provide nesting habitats for pollinators:

  1. Provide bare patches of ground with exposed soil: Almost three-quarters of all native bees in our area are ground-nesting, meaning that they lay their eggs beneath the surface of the ground. These types of bees need access to bare patches of ground with exposed soil to complete their lifecycles. To provide more nesting habitat for ground-nesting bees, consider mulching with compost instead of other types of mulches, which provides the same benefits while allowing for nesting habitats. Be sure to avoid unnecessary tilling, which can kill ground nesting bees.
  2. Leaving logs, brush piles, or other wood on the ground: Cavity-nesting bees require habitat, such as woody debris or plant stems, to complete their life cycles. Consider leaving logs or other wood on the ground for pollinators to nest and lay eggs in. If you don’t have any woody material, considering “planting” a log in your yard, preferably hardwood with the bark still attached to provide a long-lasting habitat. Brush piles also serve as important pollinator nesting habitats, where pollinators can find burrows to nest in. Brush piles also provide cover for species of ground nesting bees.
  3. Leaving standing dead trees: Dead trees, or snags, may be an eye sore to some, but are important for pollinator nesting habitat. Where possible, leave snags standing or located in another place in your yard, where they can be used as perfect chambers for species of cavity-nesting bees to lay their eggs.
  4. Providing species with pithy stems: Some species of plants, like berries (Rubus sp.), lupine (Lupinis sp.), Joe Pye weed (Eutrochium sp.), rose-mallows (Hibiscus sp.), and milkweed (Asclepias spp.) contain pithy stems important for pollinator nesting habitat. The pith, or spongy, starchy material, located in the middle of the stems can provide important habitats for pollinators to lay their eggs and, later, where larvae may feed on pollen in the spring. Pollinators may also hibernate in stems during the winter and start new nesting habitats in stems. Try to provide pollinators with a variety of plant species with pithy stems. If possible, leave dead stalks intact through the winter and cut them in the spring to a variety of lengths between 8″ and 24″ from the ground, or to a uniform height of 18″.

If you’re currently providing nesting habitat in your garden, yard, or habitat, you can complete our Nesting Habitat form and receive a digital Nesting Habitat Badge!

Providing Habitat for Overwintering

As winter approaches, many of us get ready to “put our gardens to bed” by pulling out the annuals, removing leaves, and cutting back perennials until we begin to garden again in the spring. While it may also seem that pollinators have disappeared for the year, many species continue to live in New York State year-round, including in the winter. In fact, many native pollinator species hibernate through the winter — and you can help them survive until spring.

Native bees, butterflies, and other pollinators use a variety of strategies to survive the winter. While some species overwinter in their adult form, the majority of pollinators spend the winter as an egg, caterpillar, or chrysalis, having undergone diapause, or a period of dormancy that allows them to withstand cold winter temperatures. Pollinators will spend this period in a variety of habitats, such as in the ground or in plant or wood cavities. Ground-nesting bees, for example, will use loose soil and leaf litter as overwintering habitats. In the winter, cavity-nesting bees will lay their eggs in hollow plant stems or holes in wood.

Here are some actions, actions, related to suggestions above on nesting habitats, to provide overwintering habitats for pollinators:

  1. “Leave the leaves”: Leaves and other forms of plant litter serve as critical habitats for a variety of pollinators, especially moths and butterflies. At the end of summer, some species will encase their cocoons or chrysalises in leaves, which serve as camouflage and extra protection through the winter. Other species will lay eggs or burrow into leaves as adults until they emerge again in the spring. Instead of giving away your leaves in the fall, you can spread them across garden beds or your lawn, where they’ll provide extra nutrients to the soil, help keep weeds at bay, and provide important habitats for pollinator species.
  2. Keep plant stems standing: Many hollow or pithy plant stems provide important habitats for cavity-nesting pollinators to survive the winter. Carpenter bees, for example, will overwinter in last year’s raspberry (Rubus sp.) stems, while other smaller pollinators use smaller stems, like bee balm (Monarda sp.) and rose (Rosa sp.) to help survive the winter. While it’s best to leave plant stems standing through the winter, if you do need to prune plants in your garden, cut them in the spring to a variety of lengths between 8″ and 24″ from the ground, or to a uniform height of 18″. This can help support pollinators across a range of sizes until they emerge. Other native plants with hollow stems include lupine (Lupinis sp.), Joe Pye weed (Eutrochium sp.), rose-mallows (Hibiscus sp.), and milkweed (Asclepias spp.).
  3. Provide habitat through logs, brush piles, or other wood: Numerous species of pollinators prefer to nest in or under woody material, such as fallen logs, tree stumps, or other woody debris. Leaf-cutter bees, for example, will nest in old wood-boring beetle burrows, while other species, such as the woolly bear caterpillar, will spend the winter inside or under logs. If you don’t have any woody material, considering “planting” a log in your yard, preferably hardwood with the bark still attached to provide a long-lasting habitat. If you need to move a log on your property, check under and around woody material prior to moving it to minimize disturbance to pollinator overwintering habitats.

If you’re currently providing overwintering habitat in your garden, yard, or habitat, you can complete our Overwintering Habitat form and receive a digital Overwintering Habitat Badge!

You can use the resources below to learn more about providing habitat for native pollinators alongside planting native species for your native pollinator garden:

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