As our area warms and experiences more extreme weather, how can we protect our gardens? Climate change will bring heat, strong winds, flooding and drought. It will also bring new pests, invasive species, missing pollinators, and rapidly changing habitat. Providing a nourishing garden soil will keep plants healthy during these challenging times. Native plant landscapes not only protect our soil but also take carbon out of the air and store it in the soil, allowing us to live. A healthy deep soil filled with beneficial fungi and microbes will give gardens the best chance at adapting to change. We will not be able to control many of the stressors our gardens will be facing in the future but we can prepare. Healthy soils can release nutrients when our plants need them and store more water. Plants suffering through drought benefit from deep soils with lots of organic matter that can absorb lots of rain when it is plentiful and then release it to the plants when they need it later. Healthy uncompacted soils promote healthy root growth which help trees to anchor firmly and withstand storms. Plants with well-established root systems can better withstand competition from invasive species. Healthy plants are better able to fight off new pests. To build a healthy soil, add organic matter to garden soil by leaving plant debris in the garden. Keep soil surfaces covered with plants to capture moisture and make an ideal habitat for soil microbes. Capture rainwater and surface water and infiltrate it into the garden soil using raingardens. Never use pesticides or herbicides and avoid adding mulches that may be contaminated. Avoid compacting soil especially when it is wet and do not break it up or till. Keep the soil structure in its natural layers that are perfect for soil life. Plant perennial native plants with their deep roots that transport nutrients deep into the soil. Each species has its own symbiotic micro fauna and flora supporting the root system by providing nutrients. Keep a wide variety of species to support as much soil life as possible. Old plant roots can die back and decay deep in the soil, providing even more nutrients at deeper soil layers. The future is uncertain and we are already beginning to experience the extremes that come with climate change. Start now on your safety net of soil to help your garden survive the storm. As we grow our rich soil now we help to protect our future selves by creating a deep carbon sync to keep harmful carbon out of our atmosphere.

There is too much lawn in our parks. We don’t need so much lawn. We need a little lawn for kids to play, picnics, and bocce ball. But we have way more lawn in parks then we use. We should have no unnecessary lawns in public spaces. We just need some well thought out and placed lawn areas and the rest can be natural area. In the lawns that are currently in public spaces, we could reduce mowing. Grass does not need to be kept at golf course height in our parks. Tall grass and wild flowers are beautiful and just as good at providing open space for people to enjoy themselves. Less mowing also means less mower pollution, less maintenance time, and better habitat for wildlife. Parks should have no chemical inputs like insecticides and herbicides. For our safety, these should not be used in public spaces. No spraying for mosquitos. It is ok for these spaces to be a little natural. And we expect these areas to be safe to play in. I wish we could ban chemicals in parks where kids and insects play. Public spaces are meant to be spaces to bring the public together. Gardens, winding paths through woodlands, shady benches, and secluded picnic pavilions make a park an enjoyable place to meet friends. Large trees, flowers, and bird song help us feel relaxed and comfortable. Let’s turn our parks into a place for life including wildlife and for us to feel alive. Less lawn and more life could be our slogan. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a little bit of nature so close to home.

It is hard to be an insect these days. Even though insects are vital to life on earth they face a magnitude of threats from poor human decisions. As development expands, natural areas are decreasing, so there is less habitat, nesting sites, and flowers. Habitats that remain are small and far apart, isolating populations and increasing threats from outside. Smaller protected areas are more likely to be impacted by pesticide drift, road noise, light pollution, stormwater runoff, invasive species, mosquito sprays, and disrupted food chains. We need to protect our remaining natural areas from destruction. These spaces are havens for wildlife that are being threatened from all sides. Species need a large enough area to allow a gene pool big enough to prevent inbreeding. Many habitat areas need to be increased in size or connected to neighboring habitat to be big enough to support rare species populations. Decreasing biodiversity of plants, vast areas of lawns, and landscaping fads that favor exotic and even invasive plants leave little food for pollinators and other insects. A traditional landscape supports less than 400 species. A native plant landscape can support over 1400 species. That is a 1000 more species just by using native plants. Ramant pesticide use in agriculture and neighborhoods makes even flower gardens toxic. Bees are less able to fight off disease when they are exposed to pesticides and also reduced nutrition. One of the stressors invading remaining habitat is light pollution. We need to reduce light pollution at home and work. City lights can confuse night insects and migrating birds. Moths are attracted to lights where they spend their time that they should be out pollinating. The glow of a city can be confusing to animals that are sensitive to light to know when it is time to sleep or wake. Day light also triggers animals wishing to migrate and plants wishing to bloom, artificial light can disrupt their rhythm. Supporting wildlife friendly community gardens and having our own gardens that support wildlife can provide more habitat. Connecting these gardens together across a neighborhood can provide even greater benefits.

Weeds can be the biggest headache when caring for a new flower bed. Some weeds fly in and find the empty spaces between plants to be great environments to grow. Other weeds were in the soil already with established roots or seeds dormant in the soil seed bank waiting for some light and water to hit them. Unfortunately, creating the perfect habitat for young native plants to establish is also the perfect habitat for weeds to invade. When preparing a bed for a native garden. Smother lawn for 6 months. Starting with a smothering layer of newspaper and mulch in early spring before lawn starts to grow can starve the lawn of nutrients and cause it to rot away over the summer. In fall check to see if the lawn is dead. Many people will plant their native plants at this point but if you have the patience, I suggest taking a little more time to control weeds. In year two grow a vegetable crop for one year. Vegetable crops allow weed seeds to sprout and be removed before the native plants go in. It is easier to spot and dig out weeds from a row of vegetables then from a mass of unfamiliar native plants. After one year of removing weeds, the soil is ready for planting a native garden. Hopefully all weeds in the soil bank have been removed at this point. I know it is a lot to ask to spend two years preparing a bed for planting. There will still be weeds that blow in on the wind or are poop planted by birds. But there will be less weeds over all to deal with. This will give you more time to sit back and enjoy your garden instead of battling pesky invaders. Timeline: 1 st  winter – smother lawn 1 st  spring and summer – keep any weeds from growing in new bed area 1 st  fall – check under smothering layer to make sure all weeds are dead 2 nd  winter – place bed boarders and mulch where needed 2 nd  spring – plant vegetable garden in bed, continue to remove weeds 2 nd  summer - harvest vegetables, continue to remove weeds 2 nd  fall – plant native garden starting with trees 3 rd  spring – fill in native planting with any missing plants 3 rd  summer – stay on top of weeding while new natives fill in

Whether it is from heat exhaustion, dementia, or having too much on our plates, we can all be forgetful. So many times, I have had a plant pop up in my yard that I don’t remember planting, is it the garden gnomes or did I forget placing it there. I have an oak in my yard that I know I planted but I didn’t keep the label and now I don’t know which species it is until it gets a few years older. One time I panted two plants on top of each other because I forgot I had already filled in that area earlier. I give plants to friends and then they call me a month later and with questions and I can’t remember what I gave them. It is an ongoing battle but I have come up with a few memory aids to help me out. Weed bouquet That’s right, pick one of each weed and make it into a bouquet on your kitchen table. Use this to familiarize yourself with the weed and recognize it from every angle. For long term weed ID, instead of making a bouquet, make a scrapbook by pressing the weeds dry and saving them in a scrapbook. This method also works for desirable plants but I’m less willing to behead them especially when it is my only bloom. Flower photo album Find an old photo album and fill it with photos of the garden plants. They can be photos you take or cut up a plant catalog. Label each one with its name and location in the garden. This method makes me feel like the plants and I are one big family on an adventure together. I like to put the plants baby pictures next to their adult pictures just like they were my kids. Garden journal Keeping a detailed garden journal or calendar is a great way to remember what happened when. It can be fun and educational to look back over the years and see which activities or mistakes seem to repeat at the same time each year. Learning from last years mistakes by marking them down in the next years journal can warn you to remember at the right time in the future. Don’t be too hard on yourself if you forget to keep up with your journal for a while, just pick up where you are. Any notes are better than none at all. Garden amnesia is common. There are even plant labels that say “I don’t remember planting this”. It is a possibility that the gnomes or maybe a migrating bird pooped that seed there. We just have to embrace what we get and find a way to continue.

“Rewilding is a progressive and inspirational approach to conservation. It's about letting nature take care of itself, enabling natural processes to shape land and sea, repair damaged ecosystems and restore degraded landscapes. Through rewilding, wildlife's natural rhythms create wilder, more biodiverse habitats.”   Our native gardens are rewilding by restarting nutrient cycling of biomass. Native plants and healthy soil practices help nutrients to move between plants and the soil. Native perennial plants with deep roots help to bring organic matter deep into the soil. Dead plant material allowed to remain and decay at the surface provides habitat for insect decomposers. Soils covered in native plants can grow rich varieties of fungi and have a strong mycelial network.   Our native gardens are rewilding by restoring stormwater recharge. Soils covered in organic mulch and plants can hold more water. Healthy soils and roots systems bring rainwater deep into the lower layers of soil. Multi layered canopy layers distribute raindrops and protect soil from erosion. Long lived native plants can transpire water back into the atmosphere. Water is encouraged to absorb in place instead of washing away in sewers.   Our native gardens are rewilding by rebuilding habitat for wildlife. Native landscapes provide host plants for insects that are adapted to eat them and in turn are eaten by other wildlife. Gardens provide the essential food, water, and shelter needed by birds, lizards, rabbits, and beetles. Native gardens can provide sanctuary and a refueling station for migrants on their treacherous journey. All wildlife is welcome and soon finds its own balance.   Our native gardens are rewilding by enabling natural processes.  In our native gardens insects are allowed to live and reproduce in balance with their predators. Plants can compete for nutrients or form symbiotic relationships. Soils are replenished with organic matter from decaying plants. No chemical additives are needed and are avoided to keep the whole system healthy.   Rewilding is not letting your lawn grow tall and ignoring the encroachment of invasive species. To rewild, the land first needs to be healed. Nonnative plants, including lawn will need to be removed or closely monitored to make sure they disappear as the rewilding takes place. Dead and polluted soils may need to be supplemented with compost and extra organic matter. Native species may need to be introduced to the system if their seed bank is dead and there are no native species nearby to colonize the land.   Healthy native gardening practices embrace natural cycles. We strive for biodiversity and celebrate the life we see in our gardens. We are continually learning to follow natural rhythms. We are rewilding our yards while we also benefit from the beauty of native plants.

Containers can bring native plants into areas the garden can’t reach such as balconies, porches, and driveways. Containers also look great in the garden where they add an architectural element and can highlight a plant. Containers are also useful in providing specialize soil for plants that require unique conditions, I’m thinking glade plants or pond edge. A container can even be a mini pond or water feature. Bigger is always better when it comes to containers as long as you can manage getting them into place. A container can be an investment so be sure to find out if it is safe to leave it out over winter or not. Our winter temps sometimes bust the bottoms out of my ceramic pots. Be sure to check your pot for a hole at the bottom. A hole can let out water for drainage. A pot that is meant to hold water should not have a hole. Also, as I learned the hard way, plant roots can escape through a hole and an aggressive plant that you think is contained in a container will escape into the surrounding yard. Containers seem like an ideal way to contain plants that travel aggressively underground from invading large areas. However, I have tried to contain lizards’ tail, trumpet creeper, and blackberry in pots and they have all managed to escape over the top edge of the pot. So please use my experience as a cautionary tale. To make a habitat for glade loving plants try filling the pot with sand and gravel and add a few decorative rocks to the top. For pond edge plants, line the bottom of the pot with clay and then add rich organic soil leaving a good gap below the rim for water to puddle. Most plants prefer regular potting mix, mixed with some garden soil, compost, and topped with leaf mulch. For a lower maintenance pot try rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccifolium), nodding onion (Allium cernuum), fameflower (Phemeranthus calycinus), alum root (Heuchera richardsonii), sand phlox (Phlox bifida), and purple poppy mallow (Callirhoe involucrate). These plants all prefer average to dry, well drained soil so container living will naturally fit their needs.

A just grass lawn only supports about 100 species and zero pollinators. A weedy lawn supports over 600 species with many pollinators visiting not native flowers like chickweed, clover, and dandelion, and native flowers like violets and wild strawberry. However, letting the lawn go wild is not the same as creating a healthy native ecosystem. The non-native weeds will need to be removed to create a meadow or prairie garden. In addition to letting the lawn go weedy there are many other ways to have a lawn and still protect pollinators. Use electric equipment for lawn maintenance. Gas engines can cause a lot of pollution and are very noisy, insects don’t like that. Mow less often, mow as little as possible to still keep the neighbors happy. When you do mow, mow on the high setting to leave more flowers. Mowing in the evening can also cause less harm to pollinators and not disrupt their floral visits. Wait to mow in the spring until there are plenty of other flowers blooming. Often lawn weeds are the first flowers to bloom and early spring flowers are essential for bumble bees and other spring pollinators. In general, try not to mow until at least the end of April. Leave grass clippings and leaves. The nutrients in this common yard waste are important nutrition to insects. Fall leaves are great at providing shelter to over wintering insects looking for a safe place to curl up. I shouldn’t even have to mention this but don’t use fertilizer, pesticides, or herbicides. All of these chemicals are harmful to pollinators and unnecessary if you don’t work for a golf course.

Pollinators can be found everywhere but some gardens seem to attract larger numbers. If you have pollinator envy and want to attract even more pollinators to your yard here are a few tips. Proper garden placement and plant selection can invite even more pollinators to the native garden.   Planting tips for pollinators: Plant in the sun. Pollinator bodies need sunlight to warm up their flight muscles. Plan your bloom times to be continuous throughout the year. Try to have a few species blooming at all times that pollinators are active. This includes warm winter days. Clump plants in 3 ft square or larger plantings. Larger plantings are needed to support a sustainable pollinator population. Clumping plants together makes it easier for pollinators to find their favorite plants and forage. Space your plants correctly. Plants should be close enough that they don’t leave gaps for weeds to grow but allow enough space for them to not crowd each other as they grow to full size.   Flower traits to attract certain pollinators: Bees Bees are attracted to flowers that are fragrant. They like flowers that are blue, white, yellow, violet, purple, or ultraviolet. Their flowers often have nectar guides to guide them to the center of the flower. Bees like flowers with nectar and sticky scented pollen. Bees have a variety of tongue lengths so some are adapted to visit trumpet shaped flowers. Butterflies Butterflies like bright flowers that are red, orange, yellow, or purple. Butterflies taste with their feet so scent is not as important to them. They like flowers that keep the nectar hidden within the flower so they can use their long tongue to slurp it out. Wide disk-shaped flowers give butterflies an easy landing pad for their long legs. Butterflies also use nectar guides. Moths Moths also enjoy flowers that have large landing platforms or clusters of flowers. Since moths fly at night many of their flowers open in the early morning or late evening but close for the heat of the day. Scent is important to moths so their flowers have a sweet scent in the evening. They prefer flowers that are pale in color like pink, hazy red or purple. Moths like lots of dilute nectar deep within the flower. Beetles Beetles like stinky flowers that are very fragrant and may smell like fermenting fruit or something rotten. Beetles like lots of pollen and nectar to be available. Their flowers are often dull white or green. They prefer flowers that are bowl shaped. Flies Flies like flowers that are dark brown or purple. Their flowers can smell rotten or fetid. Flies are more interested in pollen than nectar. Fly pollenated flowers are often funnel shaped.

Wasps cause fear in many people and have a reputation for being ruthless attackers. However, wasps are good insects to have in the garden since they eat pest insects, are pollinators, and they are beautiful. Usually, wasps are busy visiting flowers and provisioning their nests and will not bother humans as long as they don’t feel threatened. Parasitic wasps are solitary and are less likely to act defensively. Larval wasps are carnivorous so wasps need gardens with an abundance and variety of insects to feed their young. Parent wasps often specialize on certain types of insect prey for their babies. They will either stock their brood chambers with piles of paralyzed prey or lay their eggs directly on the prey. If you crack open a mud dauber wasps nest you will find it filled with paralyzed spiders to feed the young wasps. Adult wasps may eat insects and or nectar. Wasps are not as good at pollinating flowers as bees because they are not as hairy. Wasps have short tongues and often visit similar flowers to the types butterflies prefer. Flowers to attract wasps include the milkweeds, rattlesnake master, sunflowers, mountain mint, goldenrods, asters, and golden alexanders. I love to photograph wasps on flowers; their iridescent bodies just look stunning with the flower’s colorful petals. Social wasps like paper wasps and yellow jackets are the more worrisome type of wasp in the garden as you may happen upon a nest accidentally in the yard. Social wasps are more likely to sting as they defend their nest. Just last month I had an unfortunate experience with yellow jackets due to a misunderstanding about territory. I thought I was walking around my garden and they thought I was attacking their nest. I will try to be more alert next time to avoid future misunderstandings. Luckily, I’m not allergic and was only stung twice before I got the message to get out of their territory.

Syrphid flies, also known as hoverflies and flower flies are very effective pollinators. These flies look a lot like bees with striped yellow and black bodies. To tell a hoverfly from the bees and wasps they mimic look for only one set of wings to indicate that it is a fly. Flies have evolved their other set of wings into halteres which they use like gyroscopes to help them stabilize during flight. Hoverflies can sip nectar and feed on pollen. They rely almost exclusively on flowers for their food and are flower generalists so they can pollinate a wide array of flowers. Flowers that attract hoverflies include trillium, prairie clover, sunflowers, blazing stars, wild quinine, pawpaw, and many others. Hoverfly larva are voracious killers of aphids. When the parent is ready to lay eggs she smells out a colony of aphids or sometimes other specialist prey. The eggs are laid on the plant next to the aphid colony. The caterpillar like larvae seek out aphids and slurp them up. Once the larva has eaten enough aphids it turns into a pupa and undergoes complete metamorphosis, emerging at a hoverfly. A less often heard nick name of the hoverfly is the good news bees. Let’s help everyone know that it is good news to have these bee mimics in our gardens.

Big agriculture is taking over large pieces of our world. When land is planted in a monoculture of corn, wheat, or soy from horizon to horizon, there is no habitat left. In the past small farms had brushy hedge rows and a variety of crops that still allowed some space for insects to live. Farms benefit from a healthy ecosystem of insects including pollinators and predators that keep pest insects under control. Industrial agriculture has become toxic to insects, using neonicotinoid insecticides to eliminate all insects in the area. Healthy insect populations feed birds and many other species who rely on them as their protein source. Integrated pest management (IPM) is a system for farmers to control pests without killing everything. It involves getting to know their field and spotting pest populations before they can get out of control. Farmers can encourage predator insects like wasps by providing flowers along fence rows. Planting many smaller fields of different crops also provides more habitat for beneficial insects and less area for one pest to cause damage. You can encourage your local farmers to use IPM. Ask about their pest management practices at the farmer’s market. Shopping at the farmers market is a great way to find the best pollinator friendly produce. Small farmers are more likely to grow organic, a variety of crops, and have wildflower hedgerows, all practices that benefit pollinators. Buying local can help influence the farmers in your area to protect pollinators. Participating in a CSA (community supported agriculture) can allow you to form a close relationship with a local farmer who will listen to concerns about protecting insects. There is probably a CSA near you that will deliver a sustainable box of food to your house every week. Local small organic farms that value wildlife is the direction we need to head into the future. Encourage farmers in your area to move in a sustainable direction by supporting them with your shopping choices and sharing your message about valuing our pollinators. Remind the next farmer you see that lady bugs eat aphids for free, but only if they have insecticide free habitat.