Plant to save pollinators

WILLIAMSBURG — Master Gardener Lynn Hattery-Beyer offered tips for planting pollinator patches during a program at the Williamsburg Public Library last weekend.

“I think all of us love to see pollinators in our yards,” Hattery-Beyer told about a dozen gardeners Saturday. “I’ve seen bumble bees already.”

Many pollinators are threatened species, said Hattery-Beyer, and that’s a good reason to provide patches of plants that will attract them. “And they’re fun to watch,” she said.

Pollinators are essential to our crops, said Hattery-Beyer. Where pollinators are in short supply, growers bring them in from other areas of the country.

One way to help the insects is to plant native plants, said Hattery-Beyer. Native plants are already adapted to our environment and don’t need as much help to grow as plants that were introduced artificially.

The rusty-patched bumblebee is at risk because its habitat is at risk, Hattery-Beyer said. “We need to help the pollinators by planting these native plants.”

Native plants include asters (Symphyotrichum), blazing star (Liatris), coneflower (Echinacea), false indigo (Baptisia) and ironweed (Vernonia).

Gardeners can also help pollinators by growing organically. Avoid pesticides and insecticides, said Hattery-Beyer.

If specific plants need pesticides or insecticides, apply the chemicals minimally to affected plants only, not garden-wide.

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Hattery-Beyer noted that mulberry trees were popping up where they shouldn’t be in the Gateway Park Arboretum in Marengo. A little Roundup will kill the trees that growing where they shouldn’t be, she said.

Hattery-Beyer also encouraged finding organic ways to maintain plant health.

Companion planting means finding plants that help one another and keeping them together.

For example, marigolds are known to repel certain pests, such as aphids and nematodes. Planting marigolds with tomato plants can protect the tomato plants from these pests.

Marigolds also attract beneficial insects such as ladybugs, which prey on pests that would otherwise harm tomatoes.

Use physical barriers where necessary, said Hattery-Beyer. She puts nets over plants to keep mourning doves from nesting in them.

Keeping a garden less than tidy can also help pollinators, said Hattery-Beyer. Don’t cut perennials too short in the fall. Some insects overwinter in the stems.

Leave patches of bare earth to give solitary bees a place to nest.

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Pollinators also need water, said Hattery-Beyer. Leave puddles or create shallow water features filled with rocks that insects can land on.

Hattery-Beyer showed participants in Saturday’s workshop how to draw out a pollinator patch on a grid and suggested plants for those patches.

Think of three native species that cover three growing seasons, and plant three of each of those species, Hattery-Beyer suggested. That’s 27 plants, and they’ll fit into a five-foot by five-foot square, she said.

Because the plants have different growing seasons, the garden will provide constant blooms for pollinators, spring, summer and fall.

Hattery suggested putting a piece of cardboard over the growing area and drawing on it where each plant will be placed. Cut holes in the cardboard in those places, put the plants through the cardboard into the ground and cover the cardboard with soil.

The cardboard will decompose in a couple of years.

Gardeners can find native plants for their pollinator patches at the Iowa County Master Gardener’s plant sale Saturday, May 10 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Marengo American Legion Hall, 1669 Court Ave. in Marengo, said Hattery-Beyer.

The plants will sell for $3-$7 depending on their size.

Troutleaf Native Plants, of Johnson County, will be selling native plant plugs at the Kent Park Conservation Education Center, 2048 Highway 6 NW, Oxford, May 4, June 1, Aug. 3 and Sept. 7.

The plant sales run concurrent with a speaker series for which registration is required and can be found on the Johnson County Conservation website.

Quad Cities Wild Ones will sell native plants at Hauberg Estate, 1300 24th St. in Rock Island from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday May 17.