The following article was written for the Ruston Daily Leader.
Spring, our favorite time of year! Gardeners all
over town are working compost into flower beds, caring for seedlings, and patrolling
local garden centers for new plants arriving daily. Oh happy days!!
Before we get too involved in our spring frenzy, I
want to challenge you to take your gardening to another level this year – a
level of stewardship. We have been gifted the wondrous circle of life called
nature. As true gardeners, nature’s well being should be as important to us as
its beauty.
An important component in a healthy garden is its
pollinators. Pollinators are primarily the hummingbirds, butterflies, and bees
that keep working in our garden long after we have gotten tired and gone
inside. They tirelessly transfer pollen from bloom to bloom, plant to plant,
making every vegetable we eat and every flower we adore possible.
I asked one of our local Master Gardeners, Jean
McWeeney, to recommend a few simple commitments that every gardener could
incorporate into their gardening to become more pollinator friendly. Jean
writes articles for garden publications, speaks at gardening events, owns The Natural Garden Coach, and blogs at Dig, Grow, Compost, Blog. Here are the basic commitments she suggested:
1. Plant more pollinator friendly plants.
2. Plant more trees.
3. Become less reliant on pesticides and consider
going organic.
4. Do your research before you buy a plant.
Now that’s not overwhelming! Most of us have
pollinator friendly plants in our garden anyway, but we need to know the
difference between host plants and nectar plants. Host plants are the plants
that butterfly larvae feed on. Because these plants are going to become unsightly,
plant them in an inconspicuous place, yet close to nectar plants. Jean uses
this example, “Did you know that the gulf
fritillary butterfly lays its eggs on the passion vine and its larvae
subsequently eat the vine? The larvae look somewhat intimidating with their
bright orange color and black spikes. And the damage they can do to a passion
vine is extensive. But because both the plant and the butterfly coevolved, the
passion vine will bounce back once the larvae metamorphose into butterflies."
Host plants
for butterflies include dill, parsley, fennel, hollyhock, rose mallow,
snapdragons, broccoli, and cabbage. Of course milkweed is the host plant for
the monarch butterfly. Nectar plants include lantana, zinnia, cosmos,
coneflower, mist flower, tithonia, and globe amaranth. The Master Gardener’s
Spring Plant Sale on April 23rd will feature many pollinator
friendly plants, including several types of milkweed.
Although we often concentrate our gardening efforts
on flowers and shrubs, multilevel canopies (from tall shrubs, to small trees,
to large trees) are beneficial to the garden environment. Jean says, “Birds rely on native trees to host caterpillars for their young and the
mighty oak is a haven for caterpillars. Oak trees house over 500 different
species of caterpillars, the Bradford pear almost zero. Chickadees will feed
just one clutch of young some 6,000-9,000 caterpillars, so when selecting your
next tree, keep our bird friends in mind.”
The toughest commitment is
becoming less reliant on pesticides, but think of yourself as a link in the
environmental chain, and don’t be the weak link!! Follow these simple
guidelines:
1. Remove pests by hand if
possible.
2. Use native predators
such as ladybugs and praying mantis.
3. Try non-toxic homemade
remedies.
4. Use the lowest effective
application of pesticide and one that does not persist on vegetation.
5. Do not use pesticides
when plants are in bloom, on a windy day, or in the morning when pollinators
are active.
And finally, be informed
about where you are purchasing your plants. Jean reminds us that
“Neonicotinoids are systemic pesticides that are taken up by the plant to guard
against pests. Current evidence suggests solitary bees and bumblebees, some of
our native pollinators, are more severely affected by neonicotinoids than
honeybees. Many nurseries in the U.S. use this pesticide, even on plants that
are attractive to bees. So… do your research before you buy and speak to the
nursery manager.” That’s another great benefit of buying plants at the Master
Gardener Spring Plant Sale; you can trust that our plants have been treated
responsibly.
Derry McBride of the Garden
Club of America states, “A garden is only as rich and beautiful as the integral
health of the system; pollinators are essential to the system – make your home
their home.”
