Hint: When it comes to your lawn, less is more
By Holly Riddle
As warmer temperatures seem to be making their way to the region with some degree of consistency, many Adirondackers are marking the arrival of summer by giving their landscaping a much-needed, post-winter facelift. Considering that National Pollinator Week is just around the corner, June 17–23 — now’s an ideal time to consider how our actions, both as individuals and communities, impact the pollinators that call the Adirondacks home.
To learn more, we spoke with AdkAction’s executive director Sawyer Bailey. In 2016, AdkAction launched the Adirondack Pollinator Project, which has since distributed more than 70,000 packets of free native northeastern wildflower seeds; sold more than 10,000 native, neonicotinoid-free and pollinator-friendly plants; helped install more than two dozen demonstration community gardens throughout the Adirondacks; and, as of last year, launched the first Adirondack Pollinator Festival.
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What kind of pollinators live in the Adirondacks, and why do they matter?
When you think “pollinators,” your first thought might be butterflies, bees and, maybe, birds. However, while these are certainly important, the Adirondacks is home to many more pollinator species, such as long-horned beetles, wood flies, leafwalkers and moths. While some of these might not be as visually appealing as, say, a monarch butterfly, each is a vital member of the ecosystem.
“All our pollinators are in one family, working toward the same ecosystem,” said Bailey. “Our entire food system rests on the health of our pollinators. Three-fourths of the world’s flowering plants, 30% of our crops, depend on pollinators to reproduce. That’s one out of every three bites of food you eat. It’s all connected. Every single one of these species matters.”
What threats are Adirondack pollinators currently facing?
Adirondack pollinators face the same threats that pollinators face worldwide: climate change, insecticides and habitat fragmentation. However, Bailey pointed to more localized threats as well.
“We have more drastic temperature fluctuations in a given season,” she said. “We have more extreme weather events. That makes it difficult for creatures that have a very narrow band of conditions that they can live in, migrate in, and generally move and feed and forage in, to survive.”
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Despite these threats, though, Bailey also noted that the Adirondacks are “uniquely poised” to make a large impact on pollinators’ futures, in part because of the region’s expansive protected lands.
What can individuals do to help Adirondack pollinators?
The good news? In some cases, one of the best things you can do as an individual to help Adirondack pollinators is not very much — well, at least when it comes to your yard work. Bailey calls it the “power of inaction.”
Vast expanses of neat, tidy, well-manicured lawn aren’t ideal for pollinators or the soil. Keep your lawn on the smaller (and less labor-intensive) side, to fit your family’s needs, and let those dandelions grow. Come fall, rake minimally and leave leaf cover in place, in certain areas of your yard or in a garden bed, for pollinators to over-winter. Rather than completely clearing out your garden beds at the end of the season, let them be; they can make great overwintering habitats for small, native, solitary bees.
Otherwise, consider planting a pollinator garden in a visible spot of your front lawn, like Bailey did, as a way to not only help pollinators, but also start conversations within your community.
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What, specifically, can you plant to help Adirondack pollinators?
You don’t need a green thumb to grow pollinator-friendly plants. Bailey said, “Some of the best plants [for Adirondack pollinators]…are hardy. They naturally grow here and they want to grow here.”
She specifically recommended wild bee balm, phlox and cardinal flowers.
How should you go about shopping for Adirondack pollinator-friendly plants?
To start, there’s AdkAction’s Adirondack Pollinator Festival & Native Plant Sale, taking place June 1, 9 a.m.–3 p.m. at Uihlein Farm Greenhouse in Lake Placid.
Otherwise, Bailey advised, “I would encourage all readers to be shrewd customers when they’re going to nurseries. I’d recommend going to local nurseries. Skip the big-box stores, because their stock is…not native and is almost certainly applied with neonicotinoid pesticides. Go to our local nurseries here in the Adirondacks and ask a lot of questions about where the plants are sourced, and what chemicals may have been applied along the way, and really ask for native species. That’s how we continue to build demand and show our nurseries that [native species] are a viable branch of their business.”
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What can communities do to help Adirondack pollinator-friendly plants?
There are many opportunities for communities to support pollinator habitats on a large-scale basis, too — sometimes by repurposing land that otherwise serves little value, such as capped landfills or septic drain fields, and other times by rethinking community practices, like public roadside mowing, which could be conducted differently to create a beneficial habitat for pollinators. As one example, AdkAction is currently working with the town of Indian Lake to restore its capped landfill, transforming it into a pollinator-friendly native plant meadow.
“The Adirondacks is a conservation mecca, and this kind of habitat restoration is part and parcel,” Bailey summed up. “I’m excited our region is beginning to do more of this, together, and readers are welcome in these efforts. We need their help and their ideas.”
Last year I tried to get my community (Port Kent) interested in transforming a town-owned open space overlooking Lake Champlain – basically an unappealing field on a bluff that gets mowed twice/year – into a public walking/sitting/viewing area with pollinators and other wildflowers. There was even county monies available for projects of this type. The town supervisor was supportive, but public input/support was nil. People seem to have other priorities like mowing their tidy, “insect desert” lawns.
Would love to have a list of local native plant sources.
Here is one from the article above.
https://www.adkaction.org/plantsale/
Pollinators enjoy most any native species that have blossoms. Virtually any place that sells plants will have some. They aren’t usually grown at the site, but are usually certified for the area. Even Lowe’s has them. The key is buying from a source who can accurately answer your questions. Best to educate yourself and plant/support a wide range of plants as many pollinators have their favorites.
Most native wildflowers are EASILY grown from seed as well. You can purchase seed from many sources, but I am partial to American Meadows from over in VT.
And don’t forget to support the entire life cycles of the pollinators. The classic milkweed/Monarch butterfly relationship is just one of many who rely on a specific species for reproduction. It is often a good idea to spread out your offerings around your property to avoid concentrating the plants and inviting predation from birds and other insectas that will eat the larvae.
I also would like sources for natives.
As usual…people never think of anything other then themselves! Please lets start thinking of pollinating open spaces & your own yards, & parks.
While I try to promote a diverse landscape to support pollinators and other creatures, I do find a conflict with trying at the same time to keeps ticks at bay. Anyone have any helpful thoughts on this?
Many creatures, including turkeys, eat ticks. When setting aside habitat, keep insect predators and the habitat they prefer in mind. I have plenty of wildflowers and such, but I get most of my ticks from the forest edge where the deer and other mammals hang out. They don’t particularly like dry/sunny/hot areas. In my area, they prefer shady areas with moist leaf litter and ground cover.
I have a similar yellow tail butterfly shot and took it yesterday. And there was no waste matter to attract them. I have seen flocks of 20 in the summer in the road if they have some waste matter to attract them? how can anything so delicate and beautiful be attracted to “stuff”?
They are “puddling,” taking salts they need for digestion, reproduction, and flight, from the damp sand. You can set up your own “puddling station” by putting some clean sand in a shallow bowl, with water nearly covering the sand.