Late last fall I decided to completely redo my garden in the front of our house. I had recently added a border garden between my neighbor’s yard and my own. In order to make the two gardens look more cohesive I decided to make them one big (long) garden. It now runs along the front of my house and curves around to the south side of my yard – basically a big “L”.
I began by planting select perennials that would not only add a nice splash of color, but would attract bees. Within the garden I have added some fruit plants; blueberries and strawberries mostly. I figured if the bees were up there checking out the flowers, they might as well pollinate my fruit.
Whether you want to call it fate or perfect timing I recently came across the “Wild for Pollinators” program via a retweet from Kids Gardening. The Vermont Garden Network creating a movement to help conserve our very valuable pollinators.
The requirements to be a part of the movement perfectly aligned with the new garden I am creating in my front yard:
- Either leave an area wild, create a container bed with plants selected to benefit pollinators, or create a landscape designed to benefit pollinators.
- Maintain a pollinator site equal to or larger than 5′ x 15′.
- Not apply pesticides, fungicides, or herbicides to the site.
- Put up a Wild for Pollinators sign in front of the site.
It was a perfect match! I signed up via their website and answered a few basic questions about my garden. A few weeks later I received a beautiful sign in the mail that I will proudly display in my garden…once the snow melts.
As a nice bonus, several wild flower seed packets were included from American Meadows. I will definitely be adding these to my garden.
I feel a new motivation with my garden now. What started out as just trying to make my front yard gardens similar has given me a new direction to look for fun, colorful, and unique pollinators. It helps to know that I am doing a small part in saving the pollinators in my area.
Recreational Gardener 
I love this! I opted for #1 and now have bees living in a tree. Haha! It’s exciting when a garden comes together, congratulations!
LikeLike