5 things to do NOW for more butterflies next Spring
You want to see more butterflies and other pollinators in your garden next Spring? Of course you do!
Here’s 5 super easy ways to do so…plus my top 10 favorite Spring blooming native plants for pollinators!
#1. Stop Mulching & Mowing!
Imagine if someone covered your front door with a pile of mulch… you wouldn’t be able to get inside LIVE in your home now would you?
And what if you’d just settled down for a nap in your hammock after a very long day … and suddenly someone tosses you out of it!
Well my friends that and worse is what happens to pollinators in our yards…
It’s all mowers, leaf blowers, pesticides, landscape fabric and tillers OH MY!
Mulching with wood chips, landscape ‘fabric’ ect is one of the worst things you can do to your garden and pollinators!
Did you know 70% of native bees shelter and nest in the ground? So if you cover the ground with these heavy or artificial mulches the pollinators can’t dig their homes or lay their eggs!
What should you do instead?
Plant your plants closer together in drifts of 3-5 plants. This will shade the ground to prevent weeds and conserve water.
Use Mother Nature’s mulch… leaves, pine needles and living mulches such as wild ginger, native violets, and barren strawberry are natural mulches that pollinators actually NEED.
Stop mowing your lawn in late August as the grasses go dormant and practice #nomowMay. In just one year you will see a difference in the biodiversity of your yard!
Better yet replace your lawn. Taking out an entire lawn and replanting it with no mow native grasses is expensive. If it’s out of your budget can ADD them INTO your lawn with plants like native violets, no mow grasses, and Spring ephemerals. Create garden beds around your lawn areas with native plants and shrubs to slowly reduce your lawn space over time.
#2 Don’t ‘clean’ your garden….
Yep you read that right.
DON’T CLEAN YOUR GARDEN …. Why?
Chill out in your hammock and watch the “garden citizens” instead of rushing in with your pruners and mower. You’ll get more butterflies AND your sneakers will stay clean for a little while longer …
The Butterflies will be so happy you chilled out …
Did you know the majority of butterflies do not migrate like Monarchs do?
Hidden deep within the leaves are the chrysalids of many butterflies like Swallowtails and Luna Moths. They are overwintering until they emerge from their cocoons in Spring. Other insects such as Lightning bugs and Queen Bumblebees hibernate within the first inch of fallen leaves.
Why? Because the leaves and brush provide camouflage for hibernating pollinators and their eggs.
What to you looks messy is actually protecting these beautiful creatures against predators and the bitter cold of Winter.
#3 Prune your plants AFTER the apple tree flowers fade in Spring.
Many pollinators overwinter or lay eggs in dried twigs on plants such as dogwood and purple coneflowers. Plus, your unpruned garden will feed the birds and give you lots of beautiful ‘Winter Wonderland’ views to enjoy while sip cocoa!
#4 MAKE BRUSH PILES
When you do prune in late Spring and through the Summer create small brush piles in your garden for pollinators and the birds.
credit: Audubon Society
Tuck the brush away where it won’t be disturbed and let leaves build up around them. As you find fallen brush, twigs and other brambles in your garden, put them into various small piles around the garden. Then Autumn winds will gently push fallen leaves and seeds into the piles creating a comfy spot for pollinators to overwinter AND to call home next Spring!
Click to see my friend Kim’s wonderful blog all about creating brush piles for wildlife!
FUN FACT: butterflies & other pollinators use your ‘weed piles’ as a pharmacy! So as you weed take a few handfuls of weeds/prunings and leave them on a stool, table or other flat space in the garden for a week or so. Pollinators will come and sip from them ~ it’s their medicine cabinet!
#5 Switch out your Fall bulb planting to native plants.
Did you know popular Spring bulbs like daffodils and tulips DO NOT feed pollinators?
Yep that’s right folks.
These are for HUMAN enjoyment NOT for feeding hungry pollinators emerging in the early Spring.
They simply do not have the pollen and nectar power of NATIVE PLANTS!
Native Spring plants also bloom earlier with the nutrition hungry pollinators like Queen Bumblebees need!
Native bees like cuckoo bees are entirely dependent upon early blooming native plants such as Trout Lilies.
Called Spring Ephemerals these native plants bloom in early April so pollinators don’t starve during their first weeks of life.
An example is Spring Beauty Bees who awake early to take pollen only from the flowers of Spring Beauty (Claytonia Virginica). When other plants are still dormant, this Spring ephemeral plant blooms for just a few short weeks in early April providing critical food source for early pollinators.
These and other native Spring plants help native bees through the drastic weather changes of early Spring.
If you plant it they will come…
Here’s my top 10 favorite native plant species to plant now for Spring blooms instead of those ‘empty’ daffs & tulips..
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Bear’s Breeches
Virginia Spring Beauty
Trout Lily
Bi-colored Violets (a pretty native ‘pansy’
Wild Strawberry
Wild Geranium
Virginia Bluebells
Bloodroot
Eastern Shooting Star
Change your Fall gardening routine and get:
A quieter Autumn & Spring garden with no leaf blowers or mowers. Instead you’ll hear the sounds of Mother Nature and her citizens who call your garden home.
Less backaches from heavy lifting and raking. MORE HAMMOCK TIME!
More time to actually PLANT in your garden.
LOTS more pollinators next year like swallowtails, lightening bugs and luna moths.
More pollinators means MORE BIRDS in your garden!
A beautiful Winter garden filled with birds and rich contrasts, a “Winter Wonderland’ after every snowfall!
Now let’s go put that rake away and do nothing but plant natives for next Spring!
Getting more butterflies in your garden never sounded so good!
Join us on the 'Gram!
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Join us on the 'Gram! 〰️
