Planning a Pollinator Garden
Author: National Gardening Association
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Students observe
butterflies in their pollinator garden.
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Overview
Making a place in your schoolyard specifically for native pollinators
can help preserve struggling local populations. Students benefit from
having a space for real-life observation and exploration, and can feel
pride in their environmental stewardship.
Objective: To learn about native pollinators and their habitat needs,
and collect the necessary information for creating such a habitat in
your schoolyard.
Standards (Microsoft
Word document)
Materials:
Background
Good Plants for Pollinators
Aromatic
herbs (coriander, catnip, mint, parsley, lavender)
Annuals
(marigold,
phlox, bachelor's button, zinnia, cosmos, salvia)
Perennials
(bee balm, Shasta daisy, iris, coneflower, lobelia, delphinium). |
You don't need a lot of space to start a pollinator garden. Even
a few containers of flowers can attract hungry bees and butterflies.
To do their planning, students will need to know the basic needs
of wildlife — food, water, shelter, and places to rear young — and
remember what they’ve garnered from the first two lessons about what
makes pollinators tick. Here is some information to get you started:
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Food sources (host plants). Although pollinators
in their adult stages generally thrive on flower nectar and/or
pollen, larval
stages generally have a penchant for plant leaves. One option
is to allow a section of your schoolyard to revert to wild grasses,
weeds, and wildflowers (e.g., milkweed and Queen Anne's lace).
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Water.
Pollinators such as butterflies will gather and sip at shallow
pools, mud puddles, and birdbaths; bees and wasps
can use mud as a home-building material. Mud puddles also provide
important minerals for some pollinators.
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Sites and materials for
nesting and overwintering. Leave cut plant stems exposed, place
flowerpots with drainage holes bottom-up
on the ground, leave twigs and brush in small piles, create
mud puddles, or put out pieces of string or other light fibers.
Students
can even
build nesting structures for certain types of
bees and
bats.
Laying the Groundwork
Keep it Safe for Pollinators
Do not use pesticides and
herbicides in or around your garden. Even organic pesticides
derived from plants and microbes can be harmful to pollinators
as well
as
pests.
Herbicides
may wipe out key plants (weeds) that are important food plants
for pollinators.
Diverse plantings are less likely to have
severe pest problems and are more likely to attract pests’
natural enemies: predatory insects and birds. If certain
plants are continually plagued with pests, replace them with
less
susceptible species or varieties. |
1. If possible, have students spend at least a
couple of sessions observing flowers and their visitors in the schoolyard
and/or at
home. They can follow the exercises outlined in
their Pollinator
Journals, or you can ask the following guiding questions:
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What types
of insects or other animals are visiting which flowers?
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Are
some flowers visited more often or only by certain creatures?
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Is there more activity at certain times of day?
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What kinds of paths do the insects take as they move
among flowers?
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Which types hover and which perch?
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How do the flowers
they visit seem designed to support these habits?
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Does a mixed
planting draw more different kinds of pollinators?
Students' observations should lead to fertile questions, some of
which they can answer through systematic observations and some
through further research.
Exploration
1. If you don't already have a garden site, have the class scope
out a location that receives at least six hours of full sun each
day. If your growing space is limited, consider growing the pollinator
plants in containers filled with a rich, well-drained soil mix
2. Next, research pollinator species native
to your region.
3. Find out what specific plants and habitat features these creatures
need to thrive and reproduce. In general, the greater variety of
plant types you have (trees, shrubs, perennials, annual flowers and
herbs), the more pollinators you'll attract. Since pollinators have
different needs during different life cycle stages, maintaining diversity
will also make your site more of a full-service oasis.
Consider the following when creating your plant list:
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Use
as many plants native to your region as possible. Native plants
have evolved closely with native creatures and are well suited
to meet their needs. In fact, some pollinator species are entirely
dependent on the availability of certain native plants. (Your
state’s agency of natural resources and/or conservation and native
plant
societies are excellent resources to tap. They may also have
Web sites that offer plant lists and habitat information.)
Note:
Never dig plants from the wild unless the area is slated for destruction
and development and you have permission from the landowner.
The best source for native plants is a local nursery or native
plant association that offer plants that have been grown, not gathered.
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Whether using native or nonnative plants, shoot for
old-fashioned varieties. Many garden varieties have been bred to
look or smell
nice for humans, but they often lack accessible nectar or pollen
for animal partners.
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Choose a range of flower shapes and sizes
to suit the feeding preferences of a variety of pollinators.
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Include a variety of flowers that bloom throughout
the season. By doing so, you will accommodate different pollinators'
preferences and provide a sequence of pollen and nectar sources
throughout different life cycle stages. For instance, flowering
shrubs and trees
tend to blossom early in the season, providing nectar or
pollen
when other food is scarce.
Making Connections
1. Possible discussion questions:
2. Learn about the Monarch
Watch’s Monarch Waystation Program. Discuss the
importance of gardens for migrating pollinators.
Branching Out
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Study the life cycles and anatomy of pollinators
that visit your garden.
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Choose a favorite fruit, vegetable, or nut
crop, and research it and its pollinating partner for a report
and/or presentation.
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Discuss how the changes brought to your region by
colonizing humans have altered the habitats of pollinators, and how
different
things might look if pollinators had been on the “planning
commission” all along.
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Create a brochure for your pollinator garden. Ask
students what they think they should include (e.g., which plants
attract
which pollinators; the importance of pollinators; how to start your own
pollinator garden).
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Invite the community to guided tours of your garden.
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Write a press release about your garden and share
it with local newspapers and TV and radio stations.
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