Designing a Habitat for Pollinators

In 2023 I applied for the Boulder Pollinator Advocates training program. I was one of only 20 people to be accepted. It was a big commitment, but I was excited. From April to October 2023 I attended class weekly on Tuesdays, and participated in field trips and gardening lessons on Thursdays. I walked down to Baseline Road to catch the bus to class, which was a great way to get familiar with public transit in Boulder (and lessen my use of fossil fuels).

Our class time was full of highly detailed scientific explanations and lectures by passionate experts from the study of native bees to understanding soil chemistry. Our mission as students was to create our own pollinator habitat garden and ultimately spread the importance of providing habitat to nature’s overlooked pollinators by talking about it to everyone we know! I chose to create my garden project with the help of my neighbors on an area that was weedy and neglected. Upon graduation from the program we each received $120 worth of native perennials. I chose mostly flowering plants and included a few herbs and native grasses. The objective was to provide a constant source of pollen and nectar, structure and beauty, by choosing plants that flower at different times of the year, and are hosts for a variety of native bees and butterflies.

The site for the garden was an old abandoned goat pen that had become full of weeds that were thriving on what—to no surprise—a very nutrient-rich area from all of the manure. The soil was loamy and fertile, a bit on the alkaline side, but we decided to add some pine needles as mulch to balance the PH a bit.,

On a Saturday morning in September 2023 shortly after picking out the plants, we finished weeding and planted. We took turns watering every 3 days until winter set in.  I wasn’t sure how the plants would fair over the winter. We lost a couple of Desert Mallow plants, but everything else is doing well.

The following summer of 2024 during a community-wide land work event, we sheet-mulched the entire 500 sq ft area (that wasn’t already planted). As a community, we plan to gradually add more native plants, grape vines along the back fence, a path, perhaps a bench, or a kids’ learning area. It will be a lovely place for the curious to watch the bees, see caterpillars morph into butterflies, and discover plants they want to grow in their yards.

The native plants have very deep roots and require very little water now that they are established. It’s been unusually hot and dry, and they haven’t wilted. I am inspired to plant more natives around my home.

Over the winter of 2024 we named the garden “Shangri-La” and I painted a sign for the garden (shown here).

Carol Wiley in the garden

Hand Painted Sign