Whether you live on a farm, in the city, or in an apartment you can create a native Missouri pollinator garden with a healthy amount of planning and dedication.
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To create the best native Missouri pollinator garden for you and your location, follow these essential tips:
Have A Plan Before You Plant
Before you plant your native pollinator garden, you need to have a plan first. Purchasing and installing plants at random can result in your chosen plants not flourishing. Putting a plant that needs to be in a dry location in one that frequently gets “boggy” with result in drowning and disease like root rot.
You should also ask yourself what pollinators you want to attract. Bees? Butterflies? Birds?
While you should aim for a mix of all three some plants are more likely to attract one pollinator over another. For example, bee balm attracts bees, butterfly weed attracts (you guessed it) butterflies, and flowering dogwood attracts birds.
Remember the three needs of all pollinators from bees to birds and provide them in your native Missouri pollinator garden:
- Food
- Shelter
- Water
Even if you do not have a large amount of space you can create a native Missouri pollinator garden in containers and raised flowerbeds.
Choose Native Plants Best Suited For Your Location
Walk around your yard at different times of day and in different weather and take note of the amount of rainfall and sun each location gets. This will help you get a good idea of what your desired planting area is like and help you plan a list of appropriate native plants. If your planting area is mostly shady, choose plants that will thrive in the shade such as celandine poppy, purple coneflower, and cardinal flower.
It is critical that you get approval before you start digging in your yard as you could hit a water, utility, or gas line that can be dangerous and expensive to repair. Be sure to also follow lawn work safety rules to prevent injury.
Use The Right Planting Materials
Next, you will need the right planting materials to help your native garden thrive. This includes the addition of topsoil like Hansen’s Super Soil Topsoil. This unique blend of 70% soil and 30% organic compost is especially beneficial for planting beds and organic gardens as it is full of essential nutrients your plants need to grow strong and healthy.
Hansen’s now delivers the materials you need for your garden, including 100% organic mulch.
Embrace Companion Planting
Companion planting is a method of growing plants close together to enhance each other through:
- Increased yield
- Natural pest management
- Water conservation
- Better soil fertility
- Attract beneficial insects
For example, purple coneflower can be planted with bee balm, hoary skullcap, and royal catchfly, among others. Black eyed Susan’s and garden phlox are another popular pairing. Embracing companion planting will provide your garden with a host of benefits along with increased beauty.
Avoid Invasive, Non-Native Species
Not all plants are beneficial to the environment in which they find themselves. For example, Bradford (Callary) Pears, mimosa trees, and species of honeysuckle such as bush honeysuckle and Japanese honeysuckle are all invasive to Missouri and can bully out beneficial native plants and trees.
Before choosing a flower, shrub, tree or any other plant to plant in your native pollinator garden, please check that it is non-invasive through resources such as the Missouri Botanical Garden, Missouri Department of Conservation, and Grow Native! Missouri Prairie Foundation®.
Consult The Professionals At Hansen’s Tree Service
There are many other native Missouri flowers, grasses, and trees you can plant in your yard and garden that will attract pollinators. Our professional arborists at Hansen’s Tree Service are always more than happy to recommend native tree species for your location and needs.
We also provide at-home tree consultations and hassle free estimates so you can choose the best trees and tree care methods for you.