Native plant gardens help to combat climate change and restore biodiversity in our own yards! These gardens help with soil health and erosion, carbon sequestration, air and water quality, stormwater management, and temperature extremes. They also provide safe and healthy places for declining pollinators’ to forage and procreate, making these spaces beneficial and beautiful! Native pollinators and native plants have specialized relationships and form the foundation of local food webs and healthy ecosystems. Other insects, birds, and wildlife depend on these plants and pollinators for food and habitat. Thriving food webs are a requisite for healthy, local, biodiverse ecosystems. Healthy ecosystems mean more oxygen, more plant and animal life, resilience in the face of global warming, and an opportunity to restore landscapes swallowed by unproductive ornamental and invasive plants.

Biodiversity is a key measure of the health of any ecosystem, and of our entire planet. Every organism in an ecosystem, or biome, relies on other organisms and the physical environment. For example, plant and animal species need each other for food and depend on the environment for water and shelter. Biodiversity describes how much variety an ecosystem has, in terms of resources and species, and also genetic diversity within species. A more diverse and abundant ecosystem will offer more resources to help an area recover from famine, drought, disease, or even the decline of a species.

Pollinator pathways connect one native plant garden to the next. The closer these gardens are to each other the better opportunity pollinators have for foraging and survival. Most pollinators cannot fly very far, so by mapping and creating more native plant gardens closer together, we create a continuous ecosystem and more opportunities for biodiversity. The map shows us where we need to build more pollinator habitats. The pollinator pathway movement is spreading all over the state and country. Doug Tallamy advocates for the idea of “Homegrown National Park” and pollinator pathways are a great step in this direction.

Keystone plants, as defined by distinguished author, founder of Homegrown National Park, and Prof. of Entomology Doug Tallamy, are those that form the building blocks of healthy ecosystems. Without them, the local food web can fall apart. According to research conducted by Tallamy and his students, 14% of native plants support (as host plants) 90% of lepidoptera (butterfly and moth species). According to research by Jarrod Fowler, Dr. Robert Gegear, Heather Holm and other bee specialists, between 15 and 60% of native bees seek specific pollen (to feed their young) from 40% of native plants.  In our ecoregion (Eastern temperate forests), keystone examples for trees are: Oaks (the best), Prunus (cherries & plums), Willows and Birches; and for herbaceous plants are: goldenrods, asters, strawberries and wild geranium.

To read more about keystone species, click here. To read more about native plants and pollination systems for at-risk bees and butterflies, particularly in MA, click here.

Here in Massachusetts we are are focused on protecting bees, wasps, butterflies, moths, birds, flies, beetles, and occasionally ants and slugs.

Check out this detailed list compiled by Tufts Pollinator Initiative in 2020 of pollinators they have observed.

Of course! All it takes is some knowledge and dedication. Adding native plants to your garden and maintaining a healthy habitat will bring the pollinators. As we like to say, “if you build it they will come.” We are here to help! Contact us today for a consultation.

Not quite. Leading wildlife ecologist Doug Tallamy says as long as 70% of your plant biomass is comprised of native species (and the bulk of this is trees) you are well on your way to supporting pollinators and the species that depend on them. It may be hard to remove all your non-native trees, so start where you can make a difference. Remove an ornamental bush and replace it with a native, remove a volunteer invasive vine, and add a native plant. Replace a bed filled with nonnative species and annuals with native plants. Carve out sections of lawn not needed for a picnic and replace them with a native pollinator patch. Plant, grow, let the garden sleep under leaves and snow through late fall, winter, and early spring, then edit, plant, grow, repeat.

Some plants can take as little as a few weeks to establish themselves in your gardens. Perennials can feel at home after just one growing season and certainly by year three they will be leaping. (Trees and shrubs can take up to five years.) Plants will tell you if they’re content with where you placed them. Some may need a little editing if they are too aggressive, others may prefer a different spot. Gardening with native plants is constantly thrilling. While outside breathing fresh air, you get a bit of exercise and a terrific opportunity to watch the pollinators, the birds and other visitors.

Leaves are nature’s mulch! Leaving the leaves is beneficial to plants and pollinators. Leaves insulate plant roots, build living soil, sustain the birds, and protect overwintering insects and pollinators. You can rake leaves off your lawn, but please leave them on your beds and under your trees. Leaves provide a “soft landing” and are home to beneficial insects.

Tufts Pollinator Initiative published a great article on protecting your pollinator garden from bunnies. Read the article here to see which plants are bunny safe, and how to organize your garden in ways to deter hungry neighbors!