Pledge your Garden for Pollinators
Pledge Your Garden for Pollinators says Monaghan Tidy Towns
Monaghan Tidy Towns is seeking volunteers to pledge their gardens for pollinators this year. Committee Chairperson Emer Brennan said that many gardeners across town already practice many pollinator friendly practices. “Those gardeners should certainly be recognised but we are asking more people to adopt practices that are friendly to bees and other pollinators. Many of these measures are simple and easy to implement but they can make a big difference to pollinators and biodiversity in the town.
One-third of Ireland’s wild bees are headed for extinction, in large part because there is not enough food for them. Expanses of grasslands, including those in gardens, have nothing to offer bees or other pollinating insects, and so simply allowing flowers to appear will help them. Dandelions and ivy are among the most important plants we have for these insects, particularly as they flower early (in the case of dandelions) and late (in the case of ivy) and so provide nourishment at a time when other resources are scarce.
“Every garden, big or small, can become a haven for hungry pollinators. Pledging your garden for pollinators’ means you have chosen to make it a healthy pitstop for pollinators in the landscape. By taking some simple actions, you will help to provide much-needed food and shelter for our pollinating insects, while creating a beautiful, colourful garden. There’s lots of information in the All Ireland Pollinator Plan which has just been renewed for another 5 years. Resources and information are easily accessed at www.pollinators.ie,” she said.
“For those who are fortunate enough to have a garden, you may be interested in some of these simple and free things that you can do.”
Give dandelions a chance in springtime when bees really need them
Cut your grass less often to allow clover and other wildflowers to feed the bees or identify an area of your grass to cut less often to allow wild flowers to grow naturally. You don’t have to rewild your garden completely but if you can leave half of it, only cutting the grass late in the year, you’ll be surprised at the impact it can have
Create some areas of bare soil for solitary bees to nest in or drill some holes in wooden fence posts for cavity nesting bees
Help pollinators by deciding not to use chemicals to kill insects or to get rid of weeds
Check what you have in flower each month from March to October and work on having something in flower each month that will help pollinators.
Grow cuttings/seeds from some of your pollinator-friendly plants so that you have even more next year!
Add some pollinator friendly bulbs like snowdrop, crocus and allium for colour early in the year.
You can help collect important information by carrying out a Flower-Insect Timed Count (FIT Count). This involves watching a 50cm2 patch of flowers in your garden for 10 minutes and count how many insects visit. To learn how see: https://pollinators.ie/record-pollinators/fit-count/
Monaghan Tidy Towns is seeking volunteers to pledge their gardens for pollinators this year. Committee Chairperson Emer Brennan said that many gardeners across town already practice many pollinator friendly practices. “Those gardeners should certainly be recognised but we are asking more people to adopt practices that are friendly to bees and other pollinators. Many of these measures are simple and easy to implement but they can make a big difference to pollinators and biodiversity in the town.
One-third of Ireland’s wild bees are headed for extinction, in large part because there is not enough food for them. Expanses of grasslands, including those in gardens, have nothing to offer bees or other pollinating insects, and so simply allowing flowers to appear will help them. Dandelions and ivy are among the most important plants we have for these insects, particularly as they flower early (in the case of dandelions) and late (in the case of ivy) and so provide nourishment at a time when other resources are scarce.
“Every garden, big or small, can become a haven for hungry pollinators. Pledging your garden for pollinators’ means you have chosen to make it a healthy pitstop for pollinators in the landscape. By taking some simple actions, you will help to provide much-needed food and shelter for our pollinating insects, while creating a beautiful, colourful garden. There’s lots of information in the All Ireland Pollinator Plan which has just been renewed for another 5 years. Resources and information are easily accessed at www.pollinators.ie,” she said.
“For those who are fortunate enough to have a garden, you may be interested in some of these simple and free things that you can do.”
Give dandelions a chance in springtime when bees really need them
Cut your grass less often to allow clover and other wildflowers to feed the bees or identify an area of your grass to cut less often to allow wild flowers to grow naturally. You don’t have to rewild your garden completely but if you can leave half of it, only cutting the grass late in the year, you’ll be surprised at the impact it can have
Create some areas of bare soil for solitary bees to nest in or drill some holes in wooden fence posts for cavity nesting bees
Help pollinators by deciding not to use chemicals to kill insects or to get rid of weeds
Check what you have in flower each month from March to October and work on having something in flower each month that will help pollinators.
Grow cuttings/seeds from some of your pollinator-friendly plants so that you have even more next year!
Add some pollinator friendly bulbs like snowdrop, crocus and allium for colour early in the year.
You can help collect important information by carrying out a Flower-Insect Timed Count (FIT Count). This involves watching a 50cm2 patch of flowers in your garden for 10 minutes and count how many insects visit. To learn how see: https://pollinators.ie/record-pollinators/fit-count/