4 minute read
Saying Y.E.S. to Nature
Protecting Pollinators
BY NIKKI TOXOPEUS
Isn’t it time for No Mow May again?
No Mow May or Grow Don’t Mow (which works for the Southern Hemisphere) is a catchy phrase for campaigns to protect the habitat and food supply of pollinators and invertebrates while they breed and raise their young. Their larvae are essential for the birds who are busy foraging to raise their offspring. No bugs, no birds.
I often hear, “How does not mowing the lawn in May help? Isn’t it too late?” Well, it does help a bit if your lawn has flowering weeds and patches where bugs can live. And yes, doing it only in May does not help the emerging pollinators in March and April. The concept is broader than that. It starts in winter and ends in May, when the fledglings and butter flies can fly away. It includes allowing wild flowers and weeds to bloom. These weeds, even if they are introduced (but not invasive), are important food for some of the pollinators, especially in urban areas, where so much habitat has been lost. It is not just about lawns; it is also about connecting the patches of green spaces in the landscape.
In Cape Town, residents can sign up with the city to request their verges, parts of the parks and green spaces to be left unmown until the end of spring. I would love to do that here.
In the meantime, we can control what we do in our yards to create these wildlife habitat patches and become BIMBYs not NIMBYs. “Butter flies in my Backyard” is a David Suzuki Foundation Project, and perhaps we should broaden the term to include all bugs. Bees, moths, wasps and ants are all pollinators.
Good BIMBYs will avoid killing our pollinators with pesticides and mowing and provide them with food, water and shelter.
Food would include pollinator-friendly flowers from spring to fall for the adults. Native plants are adapted to the local climate and suited to many pollinators and are a wise choice. The more (diversity), the merrier.
Baby food would require having host plants for the larvae to feed on. You may need to learn more about the specific needs of the bugs to know which plants are needed, but some like ocean spray, nettles and maple support a wide range of bugs.
Water sources can include ponds, bird baths or water features. Using pea gravel on the edges can help bees access the water.
Shelter requires overwintering, nesting and egg-laying sites. These include bare ground, pithy stalks, leaf and brush piles. You may need to tolerate a little mess and wildness in your yard. This may trigger opportunities to talk to your neighbour and tell them why you are doing this.
If you can reduce your lawn to a minimum and replace it with a wild flower meadow, then mowing should be put off until after the seeds have set (usually in August) and you should leave a third of the meadow unmown every year to provide a refuge for the wildlife living there.
To learn more, check out the local communities who are working to protect pollinator habitats and look at websites like Nanaimo Area Land Trust (NALT) on alt.bc.ca/pollinatorproject and Habitat Acquisition Trust (HAT) on hat.bc.ca/gardeningwithnature.
Satin flowers Nurseries has great native plant information and courses and have planted a lovely native pollinator habitat garden at the Nanaimo Airport entrance. Ladysmith Parks, Recreation and Culture have a BC Hydro grant for us to put a native plant garden at Transfer Beach Park this fall, and hopefully, pollinator habitat gardens will soon be featured in the local garden tours.
Let us “bee” the change we want to see and enjoy the sightings of bumble bees on the salmonberry, the miner bees nesting in the deck box and the dawn chorus of the spring.
Above: Pollinators need dandelions. Photo: Nick Longo
