Upcycling to Increase Pollinators in Your Yard

Some materials used for pollinator palace

     Pollinators are beneficial to humans in many ways.  They help your flowers to bloom and your vegetables and fruits to produce a harvest.  Without pollinators, life on this earth would be very different from what it is now.  The variety in our diet would become much smaller. 

     Habitat loss due to agriculture and urban expansion is one of many issues causing a loss in the number of pollinators today.  They also face diseases and non-native species, as well as pollution due to pesticides and herbicides. What can we do to help?  By upcycling some simple items you probably have around the house, you can make a pollinator palace and help the pollinators in your own back (or front) yard.

     Theresa Hitchcock, a member of Perennial StL, recently presented a program showing us how to provide for pollinators while at the same time upcycling and reusing items that would normally end up in the trash.  Items used included but are not limited to:  old cans, cardboard, sticks, cloth, yarn, bamboo, cork, and paper. 

Cans and cloth used to hold the pollinator nesting materials

     Solitary bees like to lay eggs in dry tunnels.  By using bamboo, rolling up paper, or drilling holes into wood, you provide them the perfect environment.  By varying the size of the holes, you can attract different species of bees. 

     Another helpful insect you will want in your garden is the ladybug.  They will consume aphids, scales, and mites, among other pests.  People will sometimes purchase ladybugs to release into their garden.  By providing a habitat for them, you can increase your chances of bringing this beneficial insect into your garden without spending a lot of money.  The lady bugs like sticks and pinecones in a dry, sunny environment.

     Invertebrates are also helpful in the garden.  They clean their environment, aerate the soil, eat other pests, and provide food for birds and other animals.  They prefer a cool, damp environment, such as paper or leaf litter. 

     Ground beetles are great at destroying pests such as slugs and caterpillars that can destroy your crops.  Rotting wood and logs are perfect environments for beetles. 

     Finally, lacewings, delicate looking flying insect, are great hunters of pests in your garden, consuming whiteflies, aphids, mites, and caterpillars among other pests.  Yarn is an excellent nesting material for the lacewing. 

     A simple craft project you can do is take an old can you probably have in your trash or recycle bin.  Make sure it is clean and dry.  Then pack the can full with various items, such as cardboard, rolled paper, sticks, pine cones, or cloth.  You can make the pollinator palace look nice by covering the can with cloth and tie the cloth on with a piece of twine or yarn.  By placing the twine closer to the bottom of the can, when you hang it, it will naturally slope downward, keeping the inside dry.  Here is the one I did at the presentation.  I can’t wait to put it out in my yard.  

Side view of my pollinator palace

Looking inside my pollinator palace at the various materials used

     This is a fun and easy to do project, and for the most part it is free (or at least cheap).  So gather your items and do a fun project.  You can do it alone or with a child or grandchild or even with a neighborhood gardening group.  Have fun and enjoy the beneficial insects and organisms that are attracted to your yard. 

     To learn more, visit Perennial StL