7 minute read
GARDENING WITH THE BIRDS & THE BEES
Become a better gardener by working with the
By Jordon Hewson
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ardening has always been a timeless way to feed our souls, help nature, and improve our connection to the earth. It’s not hard to create something beautiful with a little work and knowledge. Plants provide us with simple elements that bring us joy and peace, and once put together in a colorful design, we enjoy a rewarding accomplishment. Nurturing our pollinators within this hobby is an easy way to go beyond the scope of creating a beautiful garden—you can create a garden with purpose!
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Working together with the birds and the bees to fertilize and enhance your garden beds can make you a better gardener. A thoughtfully designed garden can benefit our native pollinators. Encouraging a healthy population has become a necessary and vital activity for our environment.
SO, HOW DO WE ATTRACT NATURE’S BEAUTIES TO OUR LANDSCAPE?
IT’S SIMPLE. FOLLOW THESE STEPS
Get rid of the pesticides and herbicides.
Although pesticides may be effective in eliminating the “naughty plant-eating pests,” they also kill off the “good ones” and the bees. By creating a habitat where beneficial insects can thrive and increase their populations, they will help act as a natural pesticide. Choose plants that don’t require chemicals (like easy ground covers) to make this process much easier. Add in a companion plant next to that; bee balm to encourage the hummingbirds to come closer and attract different species of bees, and even butterflies.
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Add in bird and bee favorites: choose the right plants
The addition of one new plant may be just the way to please both you and your pollinator friends. If you struggle to add in something that is not visually appealing, plant a small corner or a pollinator-specific garden in an area that is available outside of your garden beds. Native bees, butterflies, and birds are in danger, and as gardeners, we need to actively encourage their health, nourishment, and reproduction if we want to keep them around. Leave that milkweed alone! Find the beauty in the nectar rich weeds, like the birds and the bees do.
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Consider their desired habitat
Other easy steps you can take to encourage and invite pollinators: 3
● Plant clover within the cracks in your stone walkway ● Plant lavender along your herb bed ● Start a cut flower garden ● Encourage the flowering weeds underneath to act as a ground cover
I like to make my own hanging baskets with attracting pollinator combos, like lobelia and sweet William. The small white flowers attract tiny, beneficial wasps that help control garden pests, while lantana and salvia are great for the bees.
Add garden accents to protect and nurture the pollinators’ way of life. Consider adding other bird- and bee-friendly features in your garden, such as lady bug hotels, butterfly nesting houses, water features, and hummingbird feeders.
Courtesy photo
Courtesy photo
Courtesy photo
SEED BOMBS
Seed bombs are extremely easy to make and are a great way to casually plant seeds in the fall or early spring (depending on the variety). Seed bombs are made with a mixture of clay, compost, and assorted seeds that grow flowers for bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, and other beneficial insects. I like to make seed bombs with milkweed and poppy seed because this low-maintenance perennial is a must-have for any pollinator garden and is easily seeded in the spring.
Seed bombs are a perfect project to get the kids involved in gardening and make for a great winter activity to get ready for spring seeding. There are many ways to add colorful details to seed bombs, like recycled shredded construction paper or confetti, adding natural food coloring to the clay. It’s fun to make them different ways with varying options. Your kids will love seeing the different blooms they created—and all of the birds and the bees enjoying them, too! Children are drawn to gardening. As they help us do so, we can
show them how they can actively impact the world around them—even with a simple gardening activity. Observing what species their blooms attract provides a fulfilling reward, too. A butterfly garden that also attracts hummingbirds is a favorite. A great bird blend will assist in fertilization by transferring pollen from their bills from one flower to another as they feed on nectar. Birds also play a big role in the reproduction of seeds from the plants. Another fun aspect of creating seed bombs: the “planting.” Seed bombs are easy to grow as they don’t require planting or the need to be buried in the soil. You can simply place them or throw them anywhere you’d like and beautiful flowering plants will grow. The clay protects and the
compost nurtures the seeds. When the weather conditions are right and the water and sun are supplied by nature, the ball will start to sprout seedlings. Over time they will grow into beautiful flowers, supplying our pollinators shelter and food for months.
Make Your Own Seed Bombs Seed bomb ingredients:
CUT 2-INCH PIECES OF CLAY ADD IN SEEDS OR PACKETS
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● Non-toxic clay. It can be powdered or prepared clay. I use an all-natural clay without any added dyes. ● Organic compost. Try to get the best compost available. This helps the seeds sprout and grow larger plants.
● Water
● Seed … of course! I used milkweed seed, but you can use any wildflower seed.
ADD IN DRIED COMPOST ADD 50/50 SOIL & PEAT MOSS
PLANTING A BEE & BUTTERFLY GARDEN
Bees and butterflies require both nesting and egglaying space, as well as pollen to thrive in your garden. Plant a broad selection of flowering and pollen-bearing plants to ensure that the bee and butterfly population is thriving. A healthy population of native pollinators will help all your flowering plants bear fruit. Flowers that are rich in nectar and pollen are important food sources for honeybees and native bees. Together, annual flowers like sunflowers, and perennial herbs like lavender, can provide food for bees and butterflies all season long. Native pollinators are especially drawn to native herbs and flowers, such as monarda (bee balm) and echinacea.
“The hum of the bees is the voice of the garden.” – Elizabeth Thompson
Courtesy photo
If you’re making your seed bombs in the off-season, simply store the seed bombs in an airtight container in a cool, dry place until it’s time to plant in the spring.
ROLL TIGHTLY INTO A BALL
THAT’S IT! JUST LET IT DRY
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Planting Your Seed Bombs
For planting windows, there are a few easy options. For springtime planting, you do so once there have been a few frosts and there is no chance the seeds will germinate before spring. If
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you’re making milkweed bombs, fall is the only time to plant. If you’re making seed bombs with other wildflowers, sow in the fall or in the early spring once there is no more chance of frost.
SEED BOMBS TO ENTICE POLLINATING
Try these if interested in making a pollinator-specific blend
Seed Bombs for BIRDS
black-eyed Susan, blue flax, California poppy, cornflower, four-o’clocks, gayfeather, Indian blanket, lance-leaved coreopsis, New England aster, pacific beauty calendula, partridge pea, plains coreopsis, prairie clover, prairie coneflower, purple coneflower, red phlox, Shasta daisy, sulphur cosmos, sweet William, and wild sunflower
Seed Bombs for BEES
baby blue eyes, bergamot, blue flax, California poppy, china aster, Chinese forget-me-not, corn poppy, fleabane daisy, globe gilia, Indian blanket, lance-leaved coreopsis, New England aster, plains coreopsis, lupin, purple coneflower, purple giant hyssop, Siberian wallflower, sweet alyssum, and tidy tips
Seed Bombs for HUMMINGBIRDS
butterfly milkweed, Chinese forget-me-not, columbine, snapdragon, aster, cosmos, larkspur, foxglove, bird’s eye, toadflax, and alyssum
Jordon Hewson of Designed Gardens, has brought her love of all things floral with her two flower-filled companies, Designed Gardens and the new Designed Gardens Flower Studio in North Conway Village.
