Dear Reader,
I initially started thinking about a pollinator garden when I saw information about it on the Ramsey County Master Gardener site. Although a life-long gardener with lots of experience in perennials and annuals that attracted butterflies, bees and birds, my focus had always been on the flowers. Frankly, I had never thought about it in the bigger environmental sense of a native habitat for a variety of birds, bees and butterflies.
I was already planning to redo a front yard in the Falcon Heights area. A Master Gardener At Home Pollinator Project seemed a good fit, as part of my volunteer activities for my Master Gardener intern year. I applied to do this project, got approved and spent the snow months reading and working to develop a knowledge base in Minnesota native plants.
My goal was to have a traditional landscape, using pollinators and natives, in the front yard of a single family residence in a neighborhood with sidewalks and a suburban feel.
My hope was that by having a variety of flowers, many native, I would be able to have a small pollinator garden that would attract birds, bees and butterflies for three seasons.
Educational value has been provided by an on-site interpretive sign, answering questions of neighbors, offering short tours and developing a website.
The existing yard had only a maple tree that would qualify as a pollinator and clover mixed in with the grass. The landscaped bed in front was about 3’ wide and followed the front lines of the house, using rock much with stone pavers as edging. The side yard had three circles outlined with paving stones and hardwood bark for mulch. Most shrubs were dead or dying. The only exception was 6 boxwoods that had thrived. These were retained.
Starting in early April, two non-symmetrical beds were outlined with curved edges - left of the sidewalk, heavy shade, and right, dappled shade to full sun. Grass was removed, rock and pavers removed, black dirt and compost added. The left side runs all the way to the street. The right side comes out 10 - 15 ft., with the far right coming out almost to the street.
Original square footage: 204 sq ft
Left side, corner of house to sidewalk. Plus right side from sidewalk to right corner of the house. Bed was 3’ deep.
Current Square Footage: 1,276 sq ft
Left side : 422 sq ft, house to the tree.
Right side: 854 sq ft, house to sidewalk
Increase in square footage: 1,072 sq ft
30 different types of plants were added, of which 12 were natives.
A total of 84 individual plants were added, of which 30 were natives.
Thank you to Cees Duijndam, Chris Stevens, and Darren Lochner, Master Gardeners, for sharing plants and their knowledge of Minnesota gardening,
Happy gardening!
Margaret Green