What are pollinator friendly gardens and why are they so important?

Thursday, 04 August 2011 16:40

What are pollinator friendly gardens and why are they so important?

Written by Scott LaMar, Director of Radio Smart Talk

Radio Smart Talk for Monday, August 8:

Fact: Pollinators (bees and other insects and animals) promote the survival of 75% of the world's flowering plants and are responsible for one out of every three bites of food we eat. That's an incredible statistic and it's an important one as well, because as the urbanized or even suburbanized world spreads and changes around us, pollinators are in danger.

That's why gardeners are being encouraged to grow pollinator friendly gardens -- patches of plants and flowers that attract the essential insects and animals.

What are pollinator friendly gardens? What species are pollinators? How do we maintain our food supplies if the pollinators are in danger.

Joining us on Monday's program will be Connie Schmotzer, an Extension Educator of Consumer Horticulture with the Penn State Cooperative Extension Service and Hilari Hinnant, whose garden was the first in Lancaster County to be certified as pollinator friendly.

LISTEN TO PROGRAM:

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# h.c. 2011-08-08 09:49

These types of pollinator-friendly gardens and landscaping also can serve as important urban stormwater management techniques. They have multiple ecosystem benefits!

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# Julie 2011-08-08 10:28

I was hoping for more information on the last question - what do you do to prevent rodents. I have a rather large area (probably somewhere between a quarter acre and a full acre) of what is now grass that I would love to convert to native wildflowers. My problem is that when I start to let the area go wild, we get hordes of mice and the tick population in our yard shoots up. How can you grow a large area of wildflowers but still keep the fleas and ticks down? With young kids, I'd have to choose mowing the grass over encouraging ticks to flourish in our yard.

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# kyle 2011-08-08 12:10

Meet a homeowner from Lemoyne, PA, whose plan to transform a typical suburban yard of turf grass into an English country garden took a whole new direction when she discovered the impacts her plans could have on local waterways & wildlife.
http://vimeo.com/23707982.

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# Ann 2011-08-08 18:12

This is a beautiful example of an Elizabethtown area home landscape planted for native pollinators and birds and it is for sale. http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/39-Trail-Rd-S-Elizabethtown-PA-17022/9775260_zpid/#{scid=hdp-site-map-list-address} is the link if you are interested.

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# Connie Schmotzer 2011-08-08 18:37

I understand Julie's concern, but native plantings do not necessarily mean increased ticks. Japanese barberry and Japanese honeysuckle are far more attractive to the critters that harbor Lyme disease than native plantings. One problem with letting an area go wild is that what comes up often isn't native. Instead of letting part of the property go wild, try sheet mulching a small area and planting closely with chosen native pollinator plants. Each year you can add a little more to the garden until you have the size you would like. Use mowed paths for the children to use to walk through the garden. The increased diversity of plants, insects, birds and mammals may actually help decrease the incidence of Lyme. The websites below offer more information that may be helpful.

http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/freepubs/pdfs/uh142.pdf
http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/nvswcd/newsletter/lymedisease.htm

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# Judy Leece 2011-08-09 13:30

I'd like to announce the formation of the York Wildflower Society through Penn State York's Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. We're brand new, meet at The Gardener of the Owl Valley's shop most months and this month will be visiting Hartwood Nursery south of Red Lion on August 24th. Please call Judy Bono at 717 586-1408 or Judy Leece 717 848-9597 for more information.

Thank you! Wonderful program! Ask Connie to talk about the offerings of the extension offices on these topics.

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