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GLT's Grow: Planting For Pollinators

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There's increasing evidence that many pollinators are on the decline, but a few changes in your yard can help pollinators not only survive, but thrive.

  • Native plants are four times more likely to attract pollinators.  Try plants with tube-like flowers that come in bright, beautiful colors.
  • Plant these is big bunches -- don't spread them out throughout the landscape.  Go BIG!
  • Alyssum, aster, bee balm, butterfly gush, daylily, sage purple coneflower, verbena, hollyhocks, lavender and shasta daisies, mint, milkweed and wild lilac are all great choices for attracting pollinators.  
  • Make sure you limit or even eliminate use of chemicals in your yard.  No use in leading in the pollinators only to kill them off with an over-application of a chemical treatment.
  • Providing water in a sheltered areas is another attraction.  
  • Don't over-mulch.   An inch is enough.  Bees like to build their nests in the ground and can be discouraged by too thick a layer of mulch.  
Reporter, content producer and former All Things Considered host, Laura Kennedy is a native of the Midwest who occasionally affects an English accent just for the heck of it. Related to two U.S. presidents, Kennedy appalled her family by going into show business.