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Tree Care: An Introductory Guide

4 Reasons To Choose Native Plants For Pollinator Gardens

19 October 2020

Same Peterson

A bee garden or pollinator garden can be an eco-conscious landscaping choice. But for the best success, you'll need to choose the plants you grow in this garden based on the needs of local pollinators, rather than simply choosing the brightest flowers or even the most prolific bloomers.

Here are some of the reasons why choosing native plants are best for this type of garden.

1. Some pollinators are only attracted to certain colors or shades

Bees tend to prefer cool colors such as whitish or blue flowers, whereas butterflies are more likely to go for a red flower. So just knowing that a native bee feeds on bee balm, for instance, doesn't mean that any bee balm plant will fill the same role. Native bees may benefit from the wild bee balm native to your area rather than a cultivated variety with showy red blooms.

2. Some pollinators only feed on small flowers

While some nectar feeders, such as hummingbirds and butterflies, may use a long tongue or proboscis to feed, other beneficial species may have a harder time getting nectar out of large or narrow flowers. Those insects that aren't specialized with long mouthparts, and those that are very small, may require flowers that are similarly tiny.

You can solve this issue by providing a variety of flower sizes in your pollinator garden. Choosing native plants, rather than focusing on the large showy flowers commonly sold for landscaping purposes, can help.

3. Some pollinators are highly species-specific

Did you know that up to 20% of bee varieties depend on specific types of pollen to survive? Unlike other bees, they may only have one or two species that they collect pollen from. This means that if those species die out in the area, those bees could also die out. This makes supporting plant species that support these bees even more critical.

Plants such as blueberries, dogwoods, and redbuds may help feed these types of bees, although the specific types of bees in your region will vary.

4. Non-native plants may spread diseases to native plants

Another reason to use more native plants in your landscaping is that non-native plants can spread diseases that could damage surrounding ecosystems.

One example of diseases spread to native plants is Dutch elm disease. This disease is transmitted when a beetle leaves an infected tree and then feeds on or shelters in a non-infected tree. If the non-infected tree is an American Elm, it may die from the resulting illness even though the Asian elms that the disease probably came from are much less affected by it.

As you can see, designing a pollinator garden can be most effective if you choose a wide variety of native plants. Contact a landscaping service for more information.

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