It’s so wonderful to see all the bees get the love they so deserve these days. I know most of us know all too well the plight of the bee. For a refresher, feel free to read more in this article "Why Bee Concerned?". I decided early in my home owning experience that I wanted to be an advocate to pollinators and not a hindrance. I don’t want to harm at least my section of the earth with products like Round-Up. When I do have to use an exterminator service, I use one that has natural solutions and we have a discussion about how they can help me co-habitate with nature on our land. One man’s weed is another man’s treasure, I tell my husband all the time. We have creeping jenny instead of grass and it’s gorgeous! I remind my husband that some people would pay big money to have “grass” like ours. And it even produces little purple flowers.
After establishing a clean, welcoming foundation, we have decided where to create our pollination stations. We have been working hard on our backyard during the pandemic and I have spotted many places to put plants that attract butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds. We invite wildlife in our yard with feeders so there is a plethora of deer that hang out. Whatever I plant, I have to make sure that the deer won’t find it a tasty snack. Pollination stations are perfect for that problem as most plants that go into pollination stations, deer don’t like to eat.
We have pollination stations spread throughout our yard, but I am ready for a bigger one and I have just the area to fit it in. So to begin with, I easily found a butterfly garden plan on Pinterest. I found one easily that laid out a detailed plan, the perfect size of the garden I envisioned, and included some rock features. It even included the types of plants suited for my zone. I googled to make sure the plants listed were not deer friendly and sure enough, they were not. The article included everything I needed to know including creating the bed, planting, and care tips. We compost on our property so we will use compost if need be to create the bed.
My 11-year-old daughter doesn’t like bees because she’s been stung before but the stations invite conversations about how important bees are. Bumblebees tend not to sting unless aggravated so we tell her it’s possible to co-exist with them and she’s becoming more and more comfortable every Spring with the thought of living among the bees.
Enjoy when building your pollination stations!