Serving Anne Arundel, Howard, Baltimore and Harford County
Thursday, June 11th, 2020 by Art Ditzel
Your yard can be beautiful as well as a micro wildlife haven which will attract as many bees and butterflies as it attracts compliments from your friends and guests. To achieve this, you must design a garden that includes food, water, and shade. A well-planned bee garden should supply the following elements.
Plant native plants – They provide natural food sources and cover for birds, small mammals, butterflies, and beneficial insects. Native plants offer ornamental value and adapt to our local environment. Once established they require less water, maintenance, and fewer chemicals.
Provide water – Backyard ponds or streams provide water for wildlife and encourage amphibian breeding as well as provide valuable drinking water for bees and butterflies.
Create a vertical habitat – Planting vines on arbors and fences such as trumpet honeysuckle and annual climbers including Morning Glories are pollen sources for bees.
One of the easiest things you can do in your yard to attract bees and other pollinators is to plant pollen and nectar-producing native species of plants, Below is a list of our top choices.
Goldenrod– Goldenrods are great for fall color and as a pollen source later in the season. Goldenrod is a nice host for a monarch chrysalis as well!
Veronica– Veronica is a great meadow plant. It is a low maintenance perennial that pollinators love! It will tolerate wet soil and can be used in rain gardens.
Butterfly Weed– Butterfly Weed likes drier soil so it can be planted on the sides or berms of a rain garden. It also thrives in a meadow planting mixed with grasses and tolerates dry soil, rocky soil, deer, drought, and erosion.
Milkweed– Milkweed is our number one favorite pollinator because it supports Monarch butterflies which are currently endangered. It is easy to grow and likely to attract bees, Monarch butterflies and caterpillars
Purple Cone Flower - Coneflowers are found only in eastern and central North America, where they grow in moist to dry prairies and open wooded areas.
Black-eyed Susan - Native to North America, black-eyed Susan (also known as rudbeckia) is a cheerful addition to any garden—and a honeybee favorite.
Eastern Red Bud - The eastern redbud, is a large deciduous shrub or small tree, native to eastern North America.
Chives - Chives are small, dainty, onion-like plants that grow in clumps reaching about 10 inches in height. They are a hardy perennial with decorative, light purple flowers.
Chokeberry - The chokeberries, in the family Rosaceae native to eastern North America and most commonly found in wet woods and swamps.
Don't wait to build a beautiful and functional bee garden. It will bring visual enjoyment to your lawn as well as provide water, food, and shelter to our busy bee friends.
You can contact the professions at SBC Outdoor Service to help with this or any landscape project at your home or residence. We C.A.R.E.
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1-410-679-1683
https://www.sbclandscaping.com/
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