Tweaking Your Garden Calendar for Pollinators and Other Beneficial Insects

Gardening is a process and not a product. And as experienced gardeners know, the gardening process is repeated season after season, year after year. To decide to create a different emphasis for their garden, the gardener must inject into the process a little change – a refocus. The seasonal processes can be tweaked in a few small but important ways to create a garden for pollinators and other beneficial insects. Existing tasks can be modified, and new tasks can be introduced.  Even a few tasks can be deleted.

Winter

In the depths of winter, from December through February and into early March, gardening tasks include protecting plants from harsh winter winds, snow, and cold. After severe winter storms, clean-up is needed. Pruning of deciduous and most evergreen trees and shrubs should be accomplished while they are dormant (except for spring-flowering shrubs). The most essential winter tasks for a gardener are to rest the body and to spend thoughtful time making plans for the upcoming growing season. Catalogs are perused. Seeds are purchased. Beginning in late winter, seeds are sown indoors. Supplies are inventoried. Tools are cleaned and sharpened. Weeding starts during warmer days in winter.

To focus on creating a pollinator-friendly garden in the winter:

• Prune to encourage more flowers (thus fruit and seeds) for the insects to enjoy.
• From trimmings, create a woodpile, organized or not, as a habitat for overwintering insects and other wildlife.
• Read to increase your knowledge about pollinators, including such wonderful references as:
  • "Bees: An Identification and Native Plant Forage Guide", "Pollinators of Native Plants," and "Wasps" by Heather Holms
  • "Butterflies of Pennsylvania," by James L. Monroe and David M. Wright
  • "Attracting Beneficial Bugs to Your Garden," by Jessica Walliser
  • "Bringing Nature Home," and others by Doug Tallamy
  • The Xerces Society's "Gardening for Butterflies" and "Attracting Native Pollinators"
• Learn which plants are host plants and which are nectar plants. I love reminding people, "If you grow it, they will come!"
• Order seeds and plants that are pollinator-friendly.
• Buy a journal. Take notes from your readings and write down your plans.

Spring

Depending on your location, spring begins in March to April and extends until the temperatures heat up and the daylight hours are long. Spring is the time when lawn work begins. After blooming, spring-flowering shrubs are pruned.  New trees, shrubs, and perennials are planted. Perennials are divided, and root or stem cuttings are made. Spring clean-up of garden beds is accomplished, and the beds are mulched.  The vegetable and herb gardens are planted and flowering annuals are added to garden beds and containers. Weeding continues.

To focus on creating a pollinator-friendly garden in the spring:

• Consider how much effort you want to put into maintaining a pristine, weed-free lawn. Herbicides and pesticides harm wildlife. A diverse lawn is healthy and can sustain insects and small wildlife.
• Check your existing stock of trees, shrubs, perennials, flowering annuals, herbs, and vegetables. An ideal landscape is diverse, layered, and lush with plenty of flowering plants in clusters or drifts.
• Delay cleaning your garden beds until the weather is warmer because this will allow overwintering pollinators to emerge.
• Don’t mulch every area of soil. Keep some spots bare—many of our native bees like to nest in bare ground.
• Consider planting extra herbs just for pollinators. A few herbs are host plants, and the caterpillars will make them unsightly as they chomp their favored leaves.
• Use your journal to track what is blooming in your garden each week during the spring. Don’t forget to include shade trees, small trees, shrubs, groundcovers, and lawn weeds.

Summer

Summer is the season for gardeners to maintain, encourage, harvest, and enjoy their robust growing garden. Plants are fertilized. During dry spells, supplemental irrigation sustains garden plants. The compost pile is added to, dampened, and turned. Tall or weighty vegetables and flowers are staked. Herbs, vegetables, and flowers are encouraged to become bushier and more prolific through pinching, pruning, harvesting, and deadheading. Shrubs and trees may need a light summer pruning. The gardener continues to eliminate weeds – especially before they flower and set seed. The lawn is mowed less frequently, and the mower height is raised during the less rainy dog days of summer.  And the harvest happens.

To focus on creating a pollinator-friendly garden in the summer:

• Harvest the leaves of your herbs early in the season, and then let the herbs flower. Many pollinators like flowering herbs. 
• Keep a water source clean and filled. A birdbath with a few rocks emerging from the water will do the trick.  A puddling pool for butterflies is also a boon for attracting these beautiful and valuable insects.
• Place a few rocks in a sunny area to allow butterflies to bask in the sun in cooler weather.
• Keep your plants healthy.  Inspect them for disease. Water and fertilize as needed.  Healthier plants are better for you and the wildlife.
• Spend time in your garden getting to know the bees, butterflies, moths, hummingbirds, and birds that are visiting. Look them up in a field guide and identify the ones that are new to you.  Take some photos.  Write down in your journal what insects you have identified and the plants and/or water source they are visiting.
• Continue using your journal to track what is blooming in your garden each week.
• Consider leaving some pest insects alone.  Herbicides and pesticides are harmful to pollinators. Many beneficial insects will be drawn to and eliminate pest populations.

Fall

Fall is an excellent time for planting. Perennials can be divided and replanted in early fall. Planting trees, shrubs, and garlic are also fall chores. Vegetable, herb, and fruit harvests are completed before or after the first frost. After harvest, vegetable gardens are cleared – diseased plants are thrown away, and the rest are put in the compost pile. Leaf clean-up can be a big job during the fall. Lawns need to be kept free of fallen leaves. The grass is mown short (2 inches high), the last cutting of the year. After the first freeze, garden beds can be mulched. The garden is put to bed for the winter as the weather turns cold. Plants that need to be protected are wrapped, their roots are protected, or their leaves are sprayed with an anti-desiccant.

To focus on creating a pollinator-friendly garden in the fall:

• Leave some leaves. While the lawn cannot tolerate piles of leaves, the garden beds of perennials, shrubs, and trees can. Compost fallen leaves into leaf mold.
• Move the clean-up of perennials and annuals until the spring. Remove vegetable garden debris and any diseased perennials and annuals as well.
• Don’t be so intent on total cleanliness and neatness. Many insects and small wildlife like to nest in messy areas such as woodpiles, brush piles, rockpiles, and leaf litter.
• Update and review your garden records as the season comes to an end.
  • What were your successes?
  • What were your failures?
  • Which weeks were devoid and thus needed flowers?
  • What pollinators do you want to encourage to visit next year?
• Use the current season’s records, notes, and observations to plan for the coming winter and determine what you want to change and plant the following year.

Do congratulate yourself on making some changes to your gardening process. These changes will make your garden a healthier and more inviting place for pollinators, other beneficial insects, wildlife, and even for yourself.  Take a small break because the annual gardening process will soon begin anew.