Pat Munts: 2016 brings a garden makeover to attract pollinators and beneficial insects

My major gardening project for this next year is to redevelop my landscape to be friendlier to pollinators and beneficial insects. I already keep mason and honey bees but I could be doing more to provide them with the proper plants for food, shelter from predators and for resting and breeding and reliable water sources. The fun part is you all get to come along on the adventure as I will write regularly about what I am doing.

Given that the garden is buried in snow, now is the time to do some reading and research. The questions I am seeking answers for include: What kinds of spaces and plants can provide the shelter? What kinds of water sources work best? What varieties of plants can reliably provide nectar and pollen from early spring through summer and into the fall? And lastly, where do I find good region-specific information for the bees and beneficial insects that live here in the Inland Northwest?

To understand the overarching issues, I am currently reading Douglas Tallamy’s “Bringing Nature Home; How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in Our Gardens” (Timber Press, 2007). This book starts with an in-depth discussion on the importance of biodiversity in suburban gardens, the importance of using native plants and then goes on to talk about how you can blend more native plants into your landscape. The book has an extensive section on how different native plants support particular insects and how you can weave them among your other plants. The one downside of this book is that it was written for a national audience and doesn’t get down to the particulars of specific lists of plants for our region.

To do that I am also studying several publications of the Xerces Society, the WSU Extension Service and USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service. The Xerces Society’s “Attracting Native Pollinators” (Storey Publishing, 2011) discusses the issues around protecting pollinators, how to redevelop a garden and ends with some extensive regionalized lists of plants to consider for your garden and detailed descriptions of insect lifecycles. The Xerces Society is one of the leading groups working on insect habitat protection and development.

WSU Extension has a publication titled “Beneficial Insects, Spiders, and Other Mini-Creatures in Your Garden: Who They Are and How to Get Them to Stay” (EM067E) available for free download at http://bit.ly/1hLoKU1. This publication is written for the residential gardener and goes into detail about the lifecycles of a number of insects and ways to get them to hang around in your yard.

Finally, the USDA NRCS has a technical note entitled “Plants for Pollinators in the Inland Northwest” (TN Plant Materials NO. 2B). This publication is a scientific review of native plants that will grow in the different rainfall zones of the region that are of benefit to insects and how to establish them successfully. While it is quite technical, it addresses the challenges you can expect when establishing a new pollinator garden. It is available for free download at: http://1.usa.gov/1NT3AlT.

Pat Munts is co-author of Northwest Gardener’s Handbook. She can be reached at pat@ inlandnwgardening.com.