Summer weather has arrived, and with it comes the bees, butterflies, hummingbirds and other pollinators we have here in New Hampshire.
“They’re providing an ecological service to us [by] pollinating our plants,” Donna Miller, co-owner of Petals in the Pines in Canterbury, said. “We can't live without them.”
Petals in the Pines is seven acres of land Miller and her husband turned into open trails, outdoor classrooms and gardens. She created her own pollinator meadow there and leads workshops on how to support pollinators.
For NHPR’s How to New Hampshire series, Morning Edition host Rick Ganley visited Miller at Petals in the Pines to learn how to start a pollinator garden.
Focus on native plants.
Plants provide food for the bees and other insects that are local to the area. After hibernating over the winter, pollinators are ready to start building their nests and raising their young, and they specifically need plants native to the region. In return, they spread pollen from one plant to another.
“Pollinators have co-evolved over thousands of years,” Miller said, “And they have this relationship between the plants and the pollinators.”
And here’s an easy way to find out what native plants grow in your area: just stop mowing. That’s what Miller did when she started out. When she stopped mowing, native plants like asters, milkweed and primrose started springing up.
If you don’t have a large space, you can plant some native flowers in pots. Garden centers with native plant sections can help you find what works best.
Have pollinator-friendly plants in your garden for more than one season.
Pollinators need food for more than just the spring and summer, but Miller says many people forget to plant for fall. That time is important because migrating pollinators like the monarch butterfly are looking for a nectar source to make their migration to Mexico.
“So in the fall, we want to make sure we have things like ironweed and different plants that they can get their nectar from,” Miller said.
Or help pollinators without planting anything.
Two-thirds of bees live underground. Leave some soil completely bare to allow them to build nests underground. Or, if you use bark mulch in your garden, leave some spots empty so bees can make their home there.
Some bees also live in logs and brush piles, and you can leave a log or stump somewhere in your garden for them. Miller says you can also keep some leaves on the ground instead of raking them all.
“A lot of our pollinators are overwintering in the leaf litter, and every time we rake up leaves and toss them away, we're tossing away thousands, literally thousands of insects,” she said. “We may not see them when we're doing it, but they're in there.”
You don’t have to stop mowing and raking completely, or start a whole new garden from scratch. But Miller said these little kindnesses to your neighborhood animals will add up and help local pollinators in their work in our ecosystem.
