Local residents have a chance to play their own part in the pollination process this week during National Pollinator Week.
Putnam County UT Agriculture Extension Agent Wayne Key said pollinators serve as the foundation for seed and fruit production. Key said creating habitats for native bees and butterflies in home landscapes directly impacts the food source for the growing global population.
“By providing those native bees and native butterflies, for example, on our plants and things in our garden and in our landscapes, it helps to pollinate those flowers,” Key said. “And that’s the number one thing, and that helps the beginning process of seed and fruit production. So that’s a food source for us.”
Key said homeowners and those living in apartments with limited space can contribute by selecting plants that provide nectar for insects to feed on. Key said these efforts make a significant impact across the state and locally in Putnam County by ensuring pollinators can continue to move around and care for native plants.
“One of the biggest things a home gardener can do to support native pollinators is to grow a diverse garden and lots of native plants,” Key said. “These plants serve not only as a pollination source for them or a food source for the bees and for butterflies and for pollinators, but there’s many of our native bees that use the tubes and the leftover plant parts for nesting sites during the winter and cold times of the year.”
Key said a pollinator-friendly garden should include a diverse population of perennial plants that return year after year. Key said using a wide variety of species like mints and asters ensures that different plants bloom at various times from March to November.
“The more variety you have, the more insects and pollinators you’ll draw,” Key said. “And those blooms come out at different times of the year. So therefore, our pollinators can ensure them that we have a food source and a pollination source for them throughout a longer growing season for many different types of insects.”
Key said residents should also monitor the threshold of insects in their gardens before reaching for lawn insecticides or other chemicals. Key said if a gardener only sees a small number of pests, such as squash vine borers, they should consider hand-removing the insects rather than spraying.
“If we can limit the amount of pesticides we’re using… that increases the likelihood that these pollinators will survive and not be coming in contact with insecticides on many of our plants,” Key said.
Key said hundreds of species of bees, wasps, and flies act as pollinators, including many native bees found in wooded areas, meadows and unmowed power line strips. Key said allowing these pollinators to flourish improves plant populations, floral colors and the shapes of floral patterns as seeds shatter and produce new growth each year.