4 Essential Features Of A Pollinator-Friendly Garden

Climate change, habitat loss, and pesticide use continue to threaten pollinators1, and, by extension, the health of the natural world. Today we're sharing a few ways to design a wildlife-friendly yard that helps them bounce back:

With that being said, something is better than nothing, and a yard full of non-native plants is usually preferable to one that just has bare grass. "The presence of a lawn means the absence of all these other habitat elements," Lawson says. A yard with flowers, shrubs, trees, and water features will be much more appealing to pollinators (not to mention, humans).

Since different specialist pollinators seek out different plants, filling your yard with a variety of species will attract the widest variety of critters. Lawson recommends choosing plants, trees, and shrubs of various sizes that flower at different points of the year. Typically, the more colors, scents, shapes, and even humidity levels in your garden, the better—but make sure to plant them in patches that are large enough for pollinators to spot. "Just having one plant is usually not as good as having a grouping of that plant," she says.

Instead, she recommends using ground covers like violets, golden ragwort, wild basil, and wild strawberries that will leave some patches of dirt exposed as they grow. Some of them also have flowers that pollinators can feed on.

Just as they throw off human sleep-wake schedules, bright lights at night disrupt some critters' routines and can keep them from pollinating effectively. If you've ever watched moths swarm around a bright porch spotlight for hours, you've seen this in action. "They're so attracted to the light that they're not engaging in their normal behavior," says Lawson. To keep your pollinators focused on the task at hand, turn off any outdoor lights when you're not using them.