One of my public pollinator gardens coming to life. (hexbear.net)

submitted 1 week ago by happybadger@hexbear.net to c/earth@hexbear.net

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I like this project a lot. The site was formerly a degraded lawn with a shitty apple tree. It's in a park next to two child-centric locations and a parking lot, so there is a lot of opportunity for it to be an enriching public education spot. My crew spent last year turning it into a dry creekbed garden full of native plants.

It takes about three years for a pollinator garden to really begin flourishing here, but even after the first season it's so much nicer and supports a lot more wildlife. The creekbed even serves a dual role of diverting water away from the parking lot while storing it for the plants to minimise irrigation.

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[-] Athena5898@hexbear.net 5 points 1 week ago

That's great! I've been trying little by little to get our yard going. Thankfully just from now mowing we get a lot of aster and goldenrod in the fall.

I also was lucky and found some milkweed at the mothman festival growing on the side of the road. I took a pod and planted it around the yard. Hoping these come up. Least I know where to get them next time. It certainly got cold enough this year for cold stratification.

[-] happybadger@hexbear.net 4 points 1 week ago

Milkweed and goldenrod are two of my staples. I think I have two species of the former and maybe four of the latter in this garden. If it's native to your area, the Asclepias tuberosa/butterfly milkweed is the most productive perennial I use out of all the Colorado natives. A lot of home xeriscapers will plant Ascepias speciosa/showy milkweed, only for it to have a narrow host range and self-seed so prolifically that it crowds out other species. My crew pulls it in our gardens since we aren't traditionally a monarch butterfly breeding area. I use Asclepias incarnata/swamp milkweed for wet areas, a huge draw for dragonflies, and butterfly milkweed in drier areas. There's practically no maintenance with them and they stay put while still producing lots of seeds for guerilla gardening.

[-] Athena5898@hexbear.net 2 points 1 week ago

I have a wet around at the corner of our yard. We probably should some swamp around there.

[-] Dort_Owl@hexbear.net 5 points 1 week ago

It takes about three years for a pollinator garden to really begin flourishing here, but even after the first season it's so much nicer and supports a lot more wildlife.

It's amazing how fast wildlife can take off if you let it. Great work

[-] happybadger@hexbear.net 5 points 1 week ago

In the opposite direction of where we want it unfortunately. Those three years require biweekly maintenance. Invasive species proliferate in degraded land until the natives crowd them out. Hopefully by the time these currant bushes mature it will be self-sustaining.