9.3 Pollinator Gardens

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9.3 Pollinator Gardens

How to Start a Pollinator Garden

Have you considered starting a pollinator garden for your bees and want to learn more? A well-designed pollinator garden can help feed and protect the honey bee population by providing rich and varied sources of nectar and pollen throughout the year.

 

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Pollinator Gardens (Runtime 1:01)

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Healthy Habitats for Pollinators

Like any living thing, pollinators need food, water, and shelter in your pollinator-friendly garden or habitat. Pollinators and other wildlife thrive in naturalized areas, so reducing some of the upkeep chores of your backyard, like mowing, cleaning, pruning, mulching, and applying pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides will create a healthier nesting habitat for the pollinators.

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Select for Seasonal Variety

Native plants should always be the first choice when considering planting vegetation to help pollinators. Choosing flowers that bloom in a variety of colors and shapes and at different times throughout the year makes for a garden pleasing to bees and people for many months.

Cluster flowers into "drifts" rather than scattering them around your garden. By including several plant species flowering at one time, as well as a series of plants flowering from the spring through the fall, you can help support a range of pollinators on your property.

Native plants should always be the first choice when considering planting vegetation to help pollinators.

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Help Plants Flourish

You will want to determine what kind of plants will thrive best on your property. On the following page is a Flowering Plant Guide. Some of the plants listed  are best for wet areas like ditches, swamp edges, or wet meadows, while others thrive in dry, sandy soils and drought-prone areas.

Don't forget to take into account the degree of sun exposure and soil characteristics to help appropriately placed plants flourish. With some effort, care, and a little luck, almost anyone can grow a beautiful, healthy, pollinator-friendly garden.

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Certify Your Garden as Pollinator-Friendly!

You can even certify your garden as a Penn State "Pollinator-Friendly Garden" through the Center for Pollinator Research website (see Resources). 

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