Pollinator Friendly Gardening
Presented By Dennis Morgeson Agent for Horticulture Washington County
•Importance of Pollinators in the Garden •Creating Pollinator Friendly Habitats •Protecting Pollinators
What are Pollinators? • Pollinators are animals or insects that transfer pollen from plant to plant. • Bees • Ants • Beetles • Birds • Butterflies • Moths • Wasps • BATS!
Grocery Shopping Options Your produce choices with bees
Your produce choices without bees
Items missing from the previous photo
1. Apples 2. Onions 3. Avocados 4. Carrots 5. Mangos 6. Lemons 7. Limes 8. Honeydew 9. Cantaloupe 10. Zucchini 11. Summer squash
Apples Mangos Rambutan Kiwi Fruit Plums Peaches Nectarines Guava Rose Hips Pomegranites Pears Black and Red Currants Alfalfa Okra Strawberries Onions Cashews Cactus Prickly Pear Apricots Allspice Avocados Passion Fruit Lima Beans Kidney Beans Adzuki Beans Green Beans Orchid Plants Custard Apples
Cherries Celery Coffee Walnut Cotton Lychee Flax Acerola – used in Vitamin C supplements Macadamia Nuts Sunflower Oil Goa beans Lemons Buckwheat Figs Fennel Limes Quince Carrots Persimmons Palm Oil Loquat Durian Cucumber Hazelnut Cantaloupe Tangelos Coriander Caraway Chestnut
Watermelon Star Apples Coconut Tangerines Boysenberries Starfruit Brazil Nuts Beets Mustard Seed Rapeseed Broccoli Cauliflower Cabbage Brussels Sprouts Bok Choy Turnips Congo Beans Sword beans Peppers Papaya Safflower Sesame Eggplant Raspberries Elderberries Blackberries Clover Tamarind Cocoa
Black Eyed Peas Vanilla Cranberries Tomatoes Grapes
If we lose all bees we lose these foods!!!
Honey Bees Are The Ultimate Pollinators The entomological definition of a bee: a special type of wasp that has evolved to move pollen from one place to another All bees (not just honey bees) have special branched hairs on their bodies that are designed to hold pollen. NO OTHER insects or animals have these special hairs Bees don’t do much except pollinate and eat pollen and nectar. They are the world’s most efficient pollinators. Pollen Basket on a bee: bees have these, and no other insects do!
Honey Bee
Native Pollinators
Native Pollinators
$3 Billion Annually
Creating Pollinator Friendly Habitats
Basic Habitat Requirements •A flower rich foraging area •Suitable host plants or nests where they can lay their eggs •An environment FREE of pesticides
Pollinator Habitat Sunny location preferred Protected from the wind Several types of flowers Blooming continuously early spring to late fall Native bees adapted best to native plants
Planting Tips Plan to have something is bloom all season long – early spring, summer until late fall Plant at least 3 different types of flowers per season Bees and Butterflies fly at different time They appreciate a garden with varieties of flowers and long season of blooms Perennials may have a delay in a new garden before they start blooming Annuals help to fill in bloom times before perennials become established
Suggestions Native plants are 4 times more attractive than exotic flowers Herbs, annual, perennials, heirloom can provide good foraging Flowers and bees help each other Allow plants to flower Dead heading plants may increase blooms Avoid hybrids with double blooms-less nectar or pollen Plants may be host to caterpillars Could be called ‘weeds’ Avoid invasive plants
Plants For Pollinators • Butterfly Milkweed • Purple Coneflower • Beebalm • Goldenrod • Cardinal Flower • Penstemon (beardtongue) • Lanceleaf coreopsis • Black eyed Susan • Joe Pye Weed • Blazing star • Lupine • Cosmos
• Lavender • Sage • Basil • Catnip • Mint • Oregano • Rosemary • Russian Sage • Alfalfa • Sweet Clover • Mustard • Partridge Pea • Vetch • Spiderflower • Spiderwort • Sunflower
Trees and Shrubs for Pollinators • Black Locust • Magnolia • Fruit Trees • Redbud • Serviceberry • Sourwood • Tulip Tree • Black Gum • Willow
• Blueberry • False Indigo • Rhododendron • Lilac
Aster Beardtongue
Coneflower
Milkweed
Rudbeckia
Goldenrod
Provide a Water Source
Creating Nesting Sites for Pollinators • Leave bare ground undisturbed • Create nesting mounds • Provide above ground sites by building artificial sites • Provide a water source
Is it Honeybee or is it Honey Bee? Depends on who you ask. Webster’s Dictionary says it’s one word…Honeybee. Entomologists say it’s two words…Honey Bee.
Pollinators and Pesticides
What you can do to protect our pollinators?
Examples of Neonicotinoid Garden Products Used in the United States • Acetamiprid • Clothianidin
• Bayer Advanced Products
• Dinotefuran
• Monterey Once a Year Insect Control II
• Imidacloprid
• Ortho MAX Tree & Shrub Insect Control
• Nitenpyram
• Green Light Grub Control with Arena
• Thiocloprid • Thiamethoxam
• Knockout Ready-To-Use Grub Killer • Ortho Bug B Gon Year-Long Tree & Shrub Insect Control • Surrender Brand GrubZ Out • Amdro Quick Kill Lawn & Landscape Insect Killer • Amdro Rose & Flower Care • Maxide Dual Action Insect Killer • Ortho Bug B Gon Garden Insect Killer • Ortho Bug B Gon for Lawns • Ortho Flower, Fruit and Vegetable Insect Killer • Ortho Rose and Flower Insect Killer • Ortho Rose Pride Insect Killer • Green Light Tree & Shrub Insect Control with Safari 2 G • Safari • Ortho Tree & Shrub Insect Control Plus Miracle Gro Plant Food
“As a gardener, you have a unique opportunity to help protect pollinators by avoiding the use of these insecticides, asking your local nursery or garden center if plants have been treated with neonicotinoids, and encouraging your city or park district to use alternatives to neonicotinoids on plants that are visited by bees or are beepollinated.�
USDA Recommendations • The best action the public can take to improve pollinator survival is not to use pesticides indiscriminately. In particular, the public should avoid applying pesticides during mid-day hours, when honey bees are most likely to be out foraging for nectar and pollen on flowering plants.
How can you reduce the effect of pesticides to honey bees and other essential pollinators? • Practice IPM procedures • Apply pesticides only when needed, using pest scouting (routine field checks for the presence/absence of pests) to minimize the need for application. • Leave buffer zones between areas of pesticide application and sensitive species, sensitive habitats, water, and potential nectar sources and do not spray when it is windy. • Avoid using dust pesticides.
• Use the least toxic pesticide recommended for control of the target pest at the lowest effective rate. • Avoid applying pesticides while crops or wildflowers adjacent to or near fields are in bloom. • If pesticides must be applied while crops are in bloom, apply in late afternoon or at night when pollinators are least likely to be working the blooms. • Communicate with beekeepers within 3 miles of the area to be treated with pesticides at least the evening before you plan to spray.
What can you do? • Educate yourself on the critical importance of bees and other pollinators in our society and create bee friendly habitats • Be very conscious of pesticide usage and always use pesticides responsibly
Websites to visit • The Xerces Society xerces.org • Pollinator Partnership pollinator.org • Natural Resources Conservation Service nrcs.usda.gov/pollinators • U.S. Dept. of Fish and Wildlife fws.gov/pollinators • U. S. National Park Service • Integrated Pest Management • Roundstone Native Seed
nps.gov/pollinators ipm.gov roundstoneseed.com