Planting for a Pollinator-Friendly Yard Can Begin in the Autumn

Autumn presents homeowners with many garden opportunities. The fall season is an opportune time to plan for the next growing season by dividing or planting perennial native and heirloom flowers in or near a vegetable garden and throughout the yard. It is a time for making smart backyard choices.

One landscaping home improvement strategy could be a pollinator-bee friendly yard; a chemical free zone, where regional native wild flowers bloom throughout the entire next growing season providing nourishment to the native bees and the honey bees.

These bee pollinators have been in serious decline in recent years. Native wild flowers and the bee pollinators adapted to each other almost since the beginning of time; both literally need each other. They are also important to humans and wildlife.

There are varied reasons for the rapid decline in bee pollinators. The Vorroa mite certainly ranks near the top of the list; the vampire like ticks literally suck the bees blood and transmit other deadly diseases. The mites have been largely blamed for the disappearance of feral colonies of honeybees. Colony Collapse Disorder or CCD is another deadly and mysterious disease which has decimated hives throughout North America.

There are other causes for the decline, according to researchers. Certainly, there has been a loss of habitat and a loss of wildflowers which provide nourishment. Some researchers are also concerned about the increased use of crops which provide no nourishment to the bees; soybeans which have no nectar, corn with no pollen, wheat that produces no nectar. The bees are beginning to slowly starve to death if they are not killed by heavy doses of pesticides and herbicides.

While most homeowners are helpless in the face of mites, CCD and large scale agriculture, there are small steps which can be taken. Native wildflowers and heirloom flowers provide the best nourishment for the bees and the local beekeepers will likely appreciate the effort, as will your vegetable garden. Bees are important for many vegetable crops to produce a good harvest, even carrots depend on the bees. If you are located in a rural area, many wild food crops for native wildlife, such as wild apples, nuts and berries, depend on the pollinating activity of the bees.

Wildflowers and heirlooms are a good step forward in an eco-friendly yard landscape. But another option to consider in the fall, and actually think about and plan throughout the winter months, is to sow a patch of Dutch White Clover in the yard in areas without heavy traffic. Clover was a standard seed in lawn mixes until the love affair with a lush well trimmed, manicured green lawn. Clover, which suffers in heavy traffic areas of the yard, is inexpensive, easy to plant, and doesn't require high volumes of water.

The patch of clover, or a clover lawn has other advantages. It doesn't grow fast and does not need weekly mowing like the traditional bluegrass or Bermuda grass lawns of today. Clover also is a bee friendly plant; the white flowers are an excellent source of nourishment for a large variety of pollinators.

Dutch White Clover greens very fast in the early spring and another benefit is that it dislikes fertilizers. It makes it's own nitrogen.

Clover also has potential to restore a well-used garden patch that could use a rest; it helps too re-nourish the soil. The same is true for other cover crops such as buckwheat and oats. These are simple to sow and maintain, inexpensive, and they help to restore soil nutrients in the vegetable garden. While clover can be planted in the fall, it is normally planted in the spring as are buckwheat and oats. All three used in the vegetable garden will attract bees, while improving the soil.

Autumn has many opportunities to revert the yard and garden into a more eco-friendly environment which will ultimately save the landowner money. The autumn plantings will beautify the yard with continuous flowers not just the next growing season but for many future growing seasons. September and October are great months to start a new yard landscape.