Start your pollinator-friendly garden this spring
The winter months give us time to study garden catalogs and educate ourselves on how to plan for our upcoming gardening season. If you want to create a pollinator-friendly garden, now is the time to start. Follow the steps we used to develop the pollinator-friendly garden at the South Butler County Library, and you will be rewarded with a pollinator-friendly habitat!
Select the site for your pollinator-friendly garden by monitoring the amount of sunlight throughout the day. The amount of sunlight determines the type of pollinator-friendly plants that would survive, multiply and flourish in this location. We found that the library’s garden site received more than six hours of sunlight during the day. Because sun-loving plants thrive in this amount of sunlight, we planned to use these plants in our garden.
Another consideration for pollinator-friendly garden site selection is the availability of water. Note the presence of a water source, such as an outdoor faucet or rain barrel. Providing adequate water for sun-loving plants is crucial for their survival during the hot summer months. At the library garden, an outside faucet was situated near our proposed site, allowing us to water the garden frequently and thoroughly.
Perform a soil test to determine the adequacy of soil nutrients. Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences performs soil testing agsci.psu.edu/aasl/soil-testing/fertility. Soil test kits may be purchased from the Butler County Penn State Extension Office. Once the soil test results are obtained, amend the soil as instructed.
For the library garden, we performed a soil test and amended the soil as recommended by the soil report. Your county Master Gardener program can help you interpret the report to choose the right fertilizer, including organic options. You can also add an assessment of the organic matter in the soil to the soil test to see whether composting is needed.
Choose a theme or purpose for your pollinator-friendly garden. While pollinator-friendly gardens will attract all types of pollinators, you may want to have a specific pollinator as a focus. We chose to create the library’s pollinator-friendly garden to support the declining number of bees and other pollinators in this area.
Based on your budget, site size and commitment to maintaining the garden, decide on a garden design.
Measure your site and decide on a shape, such as round, square or rectangle. Use garden hose or rope to mark paths and borders. Note the garden site’s proximity to existing structures, such as a shed or water feature, so the garden design encompasses these structures.
We chose a kidney-shaped design for the library garden that is approximately 15 feet by 25 feet. This served as the foundation of the garden. The kidney shape provided soft curves with space to plant different heights of perennials and shrubs. The garden borders were outlined by laying a rope on the ground to show the garden edges. The garden design complimented the new outdoor pavilion and demonstrated how to incorporate structures into the garden design.
Following your design, remove existing turfgrass (if present), turn over the soil, and plan for installation of walkways or paths, if needed. For the library garden, we removed the sod from within the roped border and recycled the sod to cover bare patches of grass. Then we placed landscaping fabric where the rock/pea gravel walkway would lead to a concrete bench.
Choose the right plants based on your sunlight exposure. Use native plants, and try to incorporate a tree, shrub, perennials and groundcover, if possible.
Penn State Extension has excellent resources for selecting plants for pollinator-friendly gardens at the website pollinators.psu.edu/landscaping-for-pollinators/pollinator-habitat-certification/how-to-apply. Purchase plants in groups of three or five to assure coverage and to create a pleasing appearance. At the library garden, perennials provided the basis of our garden design and structure. Three of the perennials, purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), thread leaf coreopsis (Coreopsis verticillata) and gayfeather (Liatris spicata), were chosen because they are drought tolerant and would multiply to fill in the bare areas of the garden and are appropriate to Butler County’s USDA hardiness zone (6a-6b). Check the USDA hardiness zone map if you are outside of Butler County at planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/pages/map-downloads. These perennials are relatively maintenance free and deer and rabbit resistant; their colors blend well for eye-pleasing combinations.
Set the plants in their pre-determined location. Once you approve of their placement, dig a hole to the appropriate depth, install the plant, then water thoroughly. We purchased our plants and set them in the designed location before we installed them. We were able to arrange and rearrange them for color complement, height and leaf characteristics. Then we installed and watered the plants.
Finish the garden with an application of mulch. Mulch has many purposes in the garden, such as weed suppression, water conservation and providing nutrients for the soil. We finished the library garden with 2 inches of enriched composted mulch for a polished and clean surface.
Your planning and hard work has paid off! Watch the pollinators do their job and enjoy a beautiful addition to your landscape.
If you have questions about pollinator-friendly plants and gardens, call the Penn State Extension Master Gardeners of Butler County at the Garden Hotline at 724-287-4761, ext. 7, or email the Master Gardeners at butlermg@psu.edu.
