Every time you eat a fruit, vegetable, or nut, you may want to thank a pollinator. Without them, our diet would lack many of the vitamins and minerals we need to survive.
Often honeybees get all the kudos for pollinating, and they do a great job. But there are other pollinators involved too, including bumblebees, other species of bees*, birds, bats, butterflies, moths, wasps, beetles, and even flies.
June 17-23, 2019 is Pollinator Week, but you can celebrate pollinators all year long by creating a pollinator-friendly landscape. Here is a short list of things you can do now:
- Situate your garden in a sunny location
- Provide a variety of habitats such as shrubs, tall grasses, and low growing plants
- Leave some area of your ground bare (for ground-nesting bees & wasps)
- Use plants that provide pollen and nectar
- Use a mix of plants that bloom throughout the growing season
- Choose less toxic pesticide options and apply them in the early morning or evening
If you have questions or need assistance with any of these suggestions, feel free to contact the UCCE Stanislaus County Master Gardeners at (209) 525-6800 or ucmgstanislaus@ucanr.edu
Please join us when we recommend pollinator-friendly plants during our next free class on Low Water Use Landscaping on Thursday, June 27 from 6:00-7:30 in Modesto. Sign up at http://ucanr.edu/lowwater2019
In the fall we plan to hold a class all about pollinators, so stay tuned!
* Visit the UC Berkeley Urban Bee Lab Common Bee Groups of California to see photos of other types of bees you may find in your landscape. http://www.helpabee.org/common-bee-groups-of-ca.html