While eating fresh vegetables and fruits, don’t forget to give credit to pollinators that made it possible. After hearing the word “pollinator,” now you might be thinking about bees! Well, the reason is simple the role played by bees is huge in plant pollination.
The alluring fragrance and vibrant colors of flowers are designed to attract pollinators. As a result, the pollinators feed on the nectar and pollen of the flower. If you find it difficult to attract pollinators in your garden, this blog is for you.
What is pollination?
Pollination occurs when the same plant species’ pollen grain moves from the male to the female part of distinctive flowers. With this, fertilized flowers can easily produce seeds and further fruits. This is a vital process for most flowering plants’ reproduction and even aids in maintaining a healthy ecosystem.
Some of the pollinators:
1) Birds
When it comes to wildflowers, the birds play a vital role as pollinators. In an area like the United States, the bird, especially hummingbird, plays a key role in wildflower pollination.
2) Bees
Most of the time of bees is spent collecting pollen and feeding it to the offspring, which are at their developing stage. Have you ever seen hairs on the bee’s body? If yes, then you might know that their hair uses electrostatic force to attract the pollen grains.
3) Bats
If someone is living in climates like deserts and tropical, then their important pollinator is bats. The center of attraction for bats is a large pale or white flower that comes full of nectar and fragrance.
4) Butterflies
The first choice of butterflies is brightly colored and clustered plants. Usually, they prefer plant varieties with flat surfaces, which will make it easier for butterflies to land.
Role of pollinators
Pollinators play a vital role in producing crops like edible oils, food, medicines, and many more. You might be surprised to know that the world’s 35% of food crops exist due to the work done by pollinators.
Pollinators are vital habitat components that our wild animals rely on for their shelter and food. So, without them, there would be fewer plants and food shortages. Due to this, there would be less amount of carbon dioxide, which is usually referred to as the building block of life.
However, there are pollinator gardens that provide a place for pollinators to take a rest and refuel them. The food of pollinators is supplied in the form of nectar and pollens. The role of the plant is to ensure that vital pollinators must stay in a specific area and keep doing their important work.
How to attract pollinators in your garden?
1) Provide shelter
It is a fact that distinctive pollinators have distinctive habitat and nesting requirements. Thus, there is a need to research to identify what will work perfectly for the beneficial creature you want. However, there is no need to complicate your pollinators’ shelter overly. You can try a simple log or place some artificial nesting boxes all over the garden.
2) Eliminate toxic
If you’re trying to attract beneficial creatures, then non-selective weed killers and pesticides can easily harm those creatures. However, the usage of such toxic has not yet shown a fully bad impact on creatures. Still, there is a case of strong cause for alarm, and that’s why we will prefer to avoid it. Thus, go for sensible gardening practices to aid in a welcoming environment for such creatures through which they can thrive in your garden easily.
3) Offer more fragrance
The scent is one of the things that attract pollinators to flowers, and that’s why must seek aromatic flowers while planting in your garden. Try herbs like oregano, lavender, basil, etc which come with fragrant oils. The flowers of such plants comprise nectar which will surely delight your pollinators.
4) Plant flowers that bloom yearlong
There is a range of assortment of creatures that aid in flower pollination. So, one more way to make a garden a welcome place can be planting flowers that can bloom throughout the year. The flower’s wide selection of blooming during each season can serve as delicious food for distinctive pollinator species.
5) Switch to natives
The most attractive thing for native pollinators is the plant with which such pollinators have been co-evolved. So, it would be better to cater to pollinators’ preferences. Also, native plants are well adapted to the climate, making it a sustainable choice. Thus, remember about local species when you’re planning about pollinator paradise.
6) Make a cute bath
With a birdbath, you can attract many songbirds, which will be highly valued in the time of low water. Don’t forget about butterflies and bee baths because they are also part of pollinators. The easiest thing you can do is take a shallow tray lined with pebbles and filled fully with clean water. This will work best for smaller pollinators like butterflies who love minerals from muddy water.
7) Provide food
In terms of providing food, you can set up hummingbird feeders with this you can attract more and more hummingbirds and butterflies to your garden. Such pollinators would repeatedly return happily to your garden as long as you provide those creatures with a dependable source of food.
8) Plant a range of colors
Just like distinctive people prefer distinctive colors that’s the same with pollinators who prefer distinctive shades. More passing pollinators can get into your garden if your pollinator-attracting perennials are done in 3-5 patches.
For instance, butterflies adore flat-topped clusters with flowers in shades of blue, pink, red, yellow, and orange. In the case of hummingbirds, they favor tube-shade flowers in pink, violet, orange, and red. At last, bees are usually attracted to colors like purple, blue, and yellow.
Conclusion
As a gardener, the best thing you can give your surrounding environment and garden is to encourage more and more pollinators in your beautiful garden. If there is a large pollinator population, then it is a clear indication of a healthy surrounding environment.
Image by wirestock on Freepik.
