Pollinators are crucial to food systems, ecosystems, and the environment as a whole. Native pollinators are vital in these systems, but they need native plants to thrive. This spring, we’re encouraging you to plant for the pollinators. We’ll be providing specific tips and resources throughout the spring and summer to help you get your pollinator garden established and blooming.

For now, let’s start with thinking about what is needed to replace lost habitat due to human changes to the landscape. Pollinators include insects, birds, bats, even amphibians! So, the first step is to decide which creature(s) you are hoping to support in your garden. There are lots of great resources online (such as this one from the Government of Canada, or this one from Seeds of Diversity) to determine who probably already lives in your area.

Once you have an idea of who you would like to support, you can look at their basic needs: food, water, shelter, safety. Often insects and birds have preferred plants for food sources, such as hummingbirds and their love of purple or red, throated flowers like Blue Flag Iris or Wild Columbines. Native plants can be harder to source, so consider adding annual plants to entice them in while you are establishing their native plant preferences. For hummingbirds, petunias and cardinal flowers are great choices (although there are lots to choose from!) Hummingbirds also consume small insects and spiders as a protein source, so make sure you aren’t removing habitat for those insects in the process.

Do you have a source of water available in your yard? If not, consider adding a shallow bird bath with some flat stones added to provide water for not only birds, but bees, butterflies, and other beneficial insects. Be sure to keep it clean and full for them- birds taking a bath can really dirty up the water and splash a lot of it out.

Are there safe places for your pollinator to rest? This could mean nesting boxes, perches or even umbel-type flowers like dill or yarrow for insects like lacewings, and butterflies. Does your yard have lighting left on at night? Consider going dark to allow lightning bugs and moths to complete their reproductive cycles without interference from artificial lighting (it can be very disruptive!) Make sure there are places where birds and insects can have safe haven from predators like domestic cats (plants with thorns, like hawthorn or wild rose discourage felines but not birds). If you would like to add nesting areas, make sure you consider those natural or domesticated predators in your design. Did you know that a lot of the designs out there for solitary bee nesting blocks do not consider that the larva is a food source for woodpeckers and other larger omnivorous birds? We want to make sure that the bee larva is safe, and the birds are fed with other sources.

Make sure that once you have your garden planted, you cover the soil with mulch of some sort, maybe even some branches. This will provide habitat for ground beetles, as well as keeping your soil and plants healthy.

If all of this sounds intriguing, check out Gaia’s course Ecological Plant Knowledge 1- Natives or our upcoming webinar on Native Plants. And watch for more installments in this series, getting more specific with some of Canada’s most valuable pollinators!