As you begin planning your garden this spring, why not keep pollinators in mind?

A simple way to help bees, butterflies, and moths is to replace a portion of the lawn area with native plantings that will provide food and shelter for wildlife. You can start small and gradually increase the size of the planting area as time and interest permit; trial and error with a new planting will help gardeners learn what works without becoming overwhelmed.

Transforming lawn areas to native landscape plantings can provide many advantages in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, such as reduction of lawn care expenses including equipment costs, fuel, fertilizer, and pesticide treatments that can help improve local air and water quality while creating habitat for pollinators. Landscape plantings also create more visual interest than lawn areas and can be used to address challenging site conditions such as steep slopes, and various soil conditions or combat erosion issues.

Plants grow in certain climatic temperature zones; the hardiness zone for plants in this area is 7. Selecting plants that will survive within this hardiness zone or a lower hardiness zone will enable them to survive from year to year. Plants that have a higher hardiness zone rating (above 7) may not survive the winter from one year to the next as they prefer a warmer climate.

In addition to a plant’s hardiness zone rating, also consider the garden site’s characteristics when planning for a new planting area, such as sun exposure and soil conditions to ensure the success of new planting. Most sun-loving plants require 6 hours of sunlight a day; if the proposed planting area does not receive that much sun, then select plants that will tolerate partial to full shade depending on the exposure of the location. Soil moisture is another critical component to consider when selecting plants. Avoid selecting moisture-loving plants for planting in a dry area or you’ll be fighting a losing battle. Conversely, plants that prefer drier soil conditions more than likely will not flourish if the soil moisture is too wet.

When designing the plant layout, plant similar types of plants together for visual impact in odd number groupings to create an aesthetically pleasing result. Select various types of plants, with a different flower or foliage colors, bloom times, heights, and fruit or seed pods to sustain interest throughout the growing season as most native perennials do not bloom all season long.

Happy planning!

From the City's Bee City Committee