Create large pots of herbs like dill, fennel, and coriander which will attract butterflies and birds to your apple trees.Plant Lavender around the garden space, whether in containers or directly in the ground, to help attract mason bees and repel apple tree pests.You can plant some apple trees- these can be dwarf or full grown depending on your gardening space.Here is an example of a larger garden bed you can create to attract pollinators to the vegetable garden: Take some time to walk your neighborhood and see what pollinators are on which plants, then incorporate those plants in to your own garden. Once you start planning out your garden, it will become much more obvious to you which additional flowers you might need. If you’d like some examples and factors to consider in creating a pollinator friendly garden, check out this post I wrote listing out what should be in a pollinator garden. You might notice in the fall as the flowers fall back that the long stems begin to have little “holes” drilled in them. While we may not eat the Hydrangea it will attract the Mason Bees that will then start pollinating the vegetable plants in the area. Mason Bees need hollow stems in order to lay their eggs, place some pollen and nectar, and then seal the end with mud. Sunflowers, Hydrangea, and Marigolds in a pollinator garden.įor example, the Hydrangea plant has long stems with large fragrant flower balls. Keep in mind that if you are trying to attract pollinators you cannot use chemical pesticides or anything that will harm the pollinators otherwise your effort will not work.Īnother thing to consider when attracting pollinators is what their other needs are- what do their caterpillar need to eat, do they need shade or shelter, and do the pollinators need a water source? Planning your garden around the pollinator needs will help make you a much more effective gardener. Here is a handy list of some pollinator friendly plants you might consider to help attract pollinators to the vegetable garden. Sometimes the shape of the flower or color will determine what pollinators are attracted, other times there may be a certain smell that attracts the pollinators. What Plants Will Attract Pollinators to the Vegetable Garden?Īs you can see from the sample garden I posted above, certain plants will attract pollinators to the vegetable garden. The added benefit is that since those pollinators are now in your garden area they will also fly from bed to bed pollinating the flowers. This will create an aesthetically pleasing area that you can enjoy while also being a productive area of your garden. The Sunflowers can be planted directly in the middle of the bed with Coneflowers surrounding them and the Strawberries on the outskirts. Strawberries- As the bees and butterflies are attracted to the larger sunflowers and coneflowers, they will fly from flower to flower and eventually from plant to plant helping pollinate your strawberry plants.Coneflowers (also known as Echinacea) have the added benefit of being used in some herbal remedies as well. Coneflowers- Bees love coneflowers, as do many species of butterflies.Sunflowers- The large yellow heads will attract bees, there are the tall varieties we all recognize and also some shorter 2 foot tall varieties for smaller spaces.Here’s an example list of plants to attract pollinators to the vegetable garden I made that you can use in a small planter or multiply over a larger bed: Keep in mind about one third of human food crops require pollinators. Once you have a list of the vegetable plants and which pollinators you need to attract you can then start to make your garden more pollinator friendly. Some pollinators are attracted to one type of plant verses another. To determine which pollinators are beneficial to the vegetable garden, first look at the plants you want to grow. Which Pollinators are Beneficial to the Vegetable Garden? Because of squash, cucumber, and plants like this we will need to make sure to attract pollinators in the vegetable garden. If you plant a squash and let it creep along the ground, the leaves may grow so large that the flowers are not as noticeable even though they are bright yellow! The local pollinators might pass on by that area of your garden and you would then be scratching your head as to why your squash didn’t produce this year. The person planted a bunch of brassicas (which do not need pollinators for a harvest) with a few plants that do need pollinators to create produce. As soon as I look at the photo it is easy to see why. Sometimes, I see people post a photo of their garden and say that they aren’t getting any produce. Harvest of tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, banana peppers, bell peppers, okra, and more.
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