Pollinator Gardens
Wildlife gardens can be a great opportunity to talk about a wide variety of subjects with your students. Beyond the already exciting prospect of watching a plant grow from seed to maturity, students can also watch their local native ecosystem in action, take part in animal migration, and segue into tough topics like climate change. Planning a wildlife garden can be exciting, but also overwhelming in all the options! In this section, we'll go through what considerations to make for different types of wildlife gardens.
Where to start
When thinking through your garden, one helpful place to start is what species you want to attract to your garden. Each species can provide different learning opportunities! Songbird or pollinator gardens can enrich any discussion of ecosystems, especially with regards to habitat destruction and other environmental concerns. A monarch garden can be great for discussing animal migration.
Another important consideration is space and time. Many of the pollinator and monarch garden species can be planted in containers, but be sure to plant enough of key species like milkweed for monarchs. A songbird garden can be great for those looking to utilize a lot of space, or to supplement another garden with some shade and height variation. Trees also often require a much longer time commitment, wheras a monarch or pollinator garden can flower in the first year.
Songbirds
Trees and shrubs are a great way to provide food and shelter for birds! They both have plenty of insects, and shrubs have the added benefit of berries. They're best suited to fill lots of space, and as a longer term project. Consider adding some bird boxes as a fun project. Plants are listed with what birds they attract!
Trees
Red Maple
River Birch
Black Cherry
White Oak
Eastern White Pine
Shrubs
Gray Dogwood
Red Twig Dogwood
Spicebush
Elderberry
Serviceberry
Other notes
Trees require the most care in their first few years. Plan for regular watering, plenty of signage and markers to indicate to mowers, and fencing to protect from pests
Plant trees 10-30ft apart, closer for more upright trees and less pruning, and further for best canopy and shade
Plant one of each for the biggest range of options, or plant a mix depending on soil conditions and space constraints
Monarchs
Monarch butterflies are perfect for talking about migratory animals and endangered species! They only lay eggs on milkweed, and caterpillars eat tons of it, so be sure to plant plenty of it. These plants flower in the fall to provide nectar for the monarchs on their trek, and are listed in order of value to them.
Flowers
Swamp Milkweed - Summer blooming
Wrinkle-Leaf Goldenrod - Late summer/fall blooming
New England Aster - Late summer/fall blooming
Orange Coneflower - Late summer/fall blooming
Common Boneset - Late summer/fall blooming
Gray or Dwarf Goldenron - Late summer/fall blooming
Blazingstar - Late summer/fall blooming
Other notes
Most native plants don't need much extra watering unless it's particularly dry, but consider watering the milkweed over the summer so it's green and attractive for the monarchs!
Perennials take time to get established, consider planting some Black Eyes Susans or easy annuals like sunflowers, cosmos, or zinnias
Include a water source in the garden, anything from a bird bath to a small dish is fine!
This garden is best with a 4ftx4ft bed with 4-6 plugs of the first 4 plants, adding the last 3 plants down the list if you have additional space. This can also be done as a container garden, find more guidance in the Indoor Gardening section
Pollinators
The greatest threat to native bee populations is habitat loss, so planting a garden for them can help replace some of it, as well as provide a learning opportunity on the importance of pollination! These plants flower in spring and fall, with mountain mint and bergamot providing low maintenance food over the summer
Golden Alexanders - Host plant for swallowtail butterflies . Spring blooming
Eastern Columbine - Early food for hummingbirds. Spring blooming
Beardtongue - Spring blooming
Wild Bergamot - Summer/early fall blooming
Clustered Mountain Mint - Attracts more pollinators than any other species. Summer/early fall blooming
Swamp Milkweed - Attracts monarchs! Summer blooming
Wrinkle-Leaf Goldenrod - Late summer/fall blooming
New England Aster - Late summer/fall blooming
Other notes
Consider adding some bee boxes by drilling holes into untreated scrap lumbar, or even building a pollinator hotel
Perennials take time to get established, consider planting some Black Eyes Susans or easy annuals like sunflowers, cosmos, or zinnias
Include a water source in the garden, anything from a bird bath to a small dish is fine!
This garden is best with either a 4x8 bed or 2 4x4 beds with 4 plugs of each plant, but can be done as a container garden as well! Find more guidance in the Indoor Gardening section
Bees prefer foraging from the same type of plant in each outing. Plant in clusters and if space is limited, plant fewer varieties rather than less than 3 plugs, including some from each season
Branching out
These curated lists offer plants that work well for school gardens and that can attract specific species, but they are far from comprehensive! When researching, there's a few things you want to consider.
Look at the garden as a whole. Is there a mix of color? Are there flowers blooming at the desired time? Monarchs need nectar the most in fall, so look for fall blooming flowers, while planting a variety will help provide nectar for pollinators all season long
Be sure to purchase straight cultivars and avoid hybrids, as nectar and pollen might have been bred out
Look for species that are as local as possible. The Maryland Plant Atlas or National Wildlife Foundation's Native Plant Finder can be excellent references
Visiting a local plant nursery can be helpful in the planning process! Herring Run Nursery offers educational talks as well as a wide selection of native plants, or check out Maryland Native Plant Society's list of native plant nurseries
Ultimately, planting a garden full of native plants and with minimal pesticides will always be beneficial, so have fun and pick some native plants that you enjoy!
Planting and maintaining your garden
Mulching
"Green mulch" is when you use plants instead of conventional mulch to cover the soil and prevent weeds. It decreases maintenance by crowding out weeds, and is much more sustainable! Plant species like Pennsylvania Sedge or Golden Ragwort densely between flowers in your garden
Garden Density
Don't be afraid to plant closer together than you would expect. Wildlife gardens do best with dense planting (maximum 1 square foot per plant) to decrease weeding and provide cover for wildlife. Get creative with plant placement too! Nature rarely has straight rows of plants, wildlife prefer some variation
Garden Maintenance
Fight the urge to clear away dead plants and leave! These provide important food and shelter, especially over the winter. Many native bee species like to live in dead plant stalks, and songbirds like to forage and nest in the dead plant matter over the winter. Consider taking pictures of your plants so that volunteer weeders know which to keep and which to remove. Put the pesticides away too, they can be harmful for the insects that you're trying to attract!
Garden signage
A good wildlife garden might look overgrown and unkept in comparison to a traditional garden. Effective communication and clear signage can help minimize miscommunication and educate others about how to take care of the garden. Consider making your signage bilingual for ease of communication. Purchase a sign from one of these places, or make your own as a fun activity!
Websites to purchase signage
Compiled list of garden signage, wide range of types
Register your garden as a monarch station and get a free sign!
Certify your garden to get a sign from the NWF
Other resources
Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources offers a comprehensive but easy to understand Simple School Wildlife Garden Guide, we highly recommend reading through this guide when starting your garden!
Monarch Sister Schools is a program that helps your school start a monarch habitat garden, and then pairs you with a sister school in Mexico's Monarch Biosphere Reserve for more classroom enrichment!
Monarch Watch also has tons of information about monarchs, and you can apply to receive free milkweed and garden guidance
Xerces Society not only has cool signs, but also region specific directories of pollinator conservation resources, from nurseries to installation guides
Check out the National Resources Conservation Service's guide for creating a wildlife garden for even more advice on working with your existing land to create a garden
Good Gardening Videos is a nonprofit dedicated to collecting informative gardening videos, check it out for whatever skills you want to master. They even have a section for youth gardens!
American Community Gardening Association offers how-to manuals and other resources to members to assist in planting, growing, financing, and learning in your garden
The Sustainable Gardening Library is “an online, easy-to-use, curated collection of resources on how to grow flowers and food in Earth-friendly ways”
Patterson Park Audobon Center provides information on Bird-Friendly Communities, a list of Top 10 Native Plants for Your Habitat Garden, and other resources.