Congratulations on your pollinator garden! You are making a difference.  Your efforts are increasing populations of Monarch butterflies, native bees, hummingbirds, and other pollinators in the Adirondacks.  Just imagine how beautiful and beneficial your garden will be as it grows and flourishes. To get you started and ensure your garden flourishes and expands its value for pollinators, we have some tips and tricks for you!

If you are adding plants to an existing garden

• Remove weeds while they are small in the spring, and keep up with weeding throughout the season.  Weeds outcompete many plants, robbing them of moisture, nutrients, and sunlight.
• Prune all overwintered stalks to within 6” of the ground.
• Divide and transplant plants that are overgrown or crowding others.  Dig, divide, and transplant clumps around the garden or better yet create new pollinator plantings.
• Remove any dead, weak, or infected plants.
• Replace plants that you’ve removed with the new plants you’ve purchased from our annual plant sale.
• Clean-up garden beds by removing any dead and infected plant material.
• Add compost or fertilizer to beds close to plants and gently work it into the soil being careful not to damage plant roots.
• Avoid mulch, or at least leave some areas of bare soil exposed for ground nesting bees. If you decide to mulch some areas, cover bare earth with weed suffocating mulch like straw, shredded leaves, grass clippings, newspapers, compost, or natural wood chips.
• Weed – yes, again. Diligence is a gardener’s most powerful ally. Deal with weeds as soon as they appear so that in the future you will be able to spend less time weeding and more time enjoying your garden.

If you are creating a new garden from scratch, you might consider a no-till garden installation that will keep soil structure and microbes intact, keep sequestered carbon in the soil, and prevent erosion. To start a no till garden:

• Select an area in your yard that will receive at least 6 hours of direct sunlight.
• Lay out material such as paper grocery store bags, cardboard, or newspapers.
• Use a hose with a wand attachment or a watering can to wet the material down.
• Cover the material with heavy compost and leaves, grass clippings, or pine needles.  Lay the organic material on thick, ideally 12 inches, and water it well.
• Plant directly into the thick compost and mulch mix.