Experts scrambling to understand losses in hives across the country are finally identifying the culprits. And the damage to farmed bees is a sign of trouble for wild bees too
Do you have any resources you can share for what you’ve done and will do again? My yard right now is very sparse. Literally no grass, but has 3-4ft tall weeds, moss, rocks, and a lot of mushrooms. I don’t necessarily care if I ever have a perfect lawn, but I’d like something else… more appealing.
By no means am I an expert so do some reading for your area. That said, here is how I set up my space.
I am a big fan of planting stuff that you can eat, that attracts polinators, and is low maintenance.
We have a couple varieties of basil that we let flower that brings bees in and are perennials and rosemary that flowers I have some really big mint plants that the bees love too. I basically do nothing to any of those and just let them ride. I have a couple of citrus plants that flower and bring in lots of insects. I planted grape vines that the birds love and have been really fun for my kids. They also loved the blackberry vines.
Any time I have the big clumps of clover in the lawn part of our yard, I move them to the flower beds. We also have several jasmine plants that crawl around.
I tend to do the local heirloom wildflower mixes in our side yard areas which was super great to cover up the utility boxes in our yard.
Heirloom stuff is great, I have several plants that I have re-grown from seeds inside fruit that the pests got to. 100% recommend.
I like to keep citronella and lemongrass around to help with the mosquitos. The lemongrass probably doesnt do anything unless you burn it but you can pick the citronella leaves and rub them between your hands then rub your hands on your skin and that seems to work.
Keep a fountain or bird bath around for the bugs/birds. If you can do it low to the ground, you can get frogs and other stuff too.
I tend to keep some brush in a pile for some of the other critters like salmanders, the little garden snakes, skinks, etc. You can get rats/mice though so ymmv. Rock piles are also good.
When the oak/ash trees drop leaves, I mulch them with the mower and collect them for use around the tree bases, that is supposed to be good for fireflys and stuff.
We have not watered our garden at all this year.
If you can find native plants, use them because they are already adapted to your area.
I tried to do microclover for our yard but since we had grass already it didn’t really take off. I also tried using buffalo grass with the same result. I do tend to let our grass go longer, its better for water conservation and I refuse to use clean water for grass growth.
For compost, we do table scraps mixed with leaves and yard clippings. I didn’t do it properly and ended up accidentally planting 10,000 papaya plants in our yard that the freeze killed off.
I have some blue salvia looking tree thing that is constantly covered in pollinators that grew super quick. They plant them on the highway medians around Houston and its been awesome. The flower smell great too.
For compost, we do table scraps mixed with leaves and yard clippings. I didn’t do it properly and ended up accidentally planting 10,000 papaya plants in our yard that the freeze killed off.
Do you have any resources you can share for what you’ve done and will do again? My yard right now is very sparse. Literally no grass, but has 3-4ft tall weeds, moss, rocks, and a lot of mushrooms. I don’t necessarily care if I ever have a perfect lawn, but I’d like something else… more appealing.
By no means am I an expert so do some reading for your area. That said, here is how I set up my space.
I am a big fan of planting stuff that you can eat, that attracts polinators, and is low maintenance.
We have a couple varieties of basil that we let flower that brings bees in and are perennials and rosemary that flowers I have some really big mint plants that the bees love too. I basically do nothing to any of those and just let them ride. I have a couple of citrus plants that flower and bring in lots of insects. I planted grape vines that the birds love and have been really fun for my kids. They also loved the blackberry vines.
Any time I have the big clumps of clover in the lawn part of our yard, I move them to the flower beds. We also have several jasmine plants that crawl around.
I tend to do the local heirloom wildflower mixes in our side yard areas which was super great to cover up the utility boxes in our yard.
Heirloom stuff is great, I have several plants that I have re-grown from seeds inside fruit that the pests got to. 100% recommend.
I like to keep citronella and lemongrass around to help with the mosquitos. The lemongrass probably doesnt do anything unless you burn it but you can pick the citronella leaves and rub them between your hands then rub your hands on your skin and that seems to work.
Keep a fountain or bird bath around for the bugs/birds. If you can do it low to the ground, you can get frogs and other stuff too.
I tend to keep some brush in a pile for some of the other critters like salmanders, the little garden snakes, skinks, etc. You can get rats/mice though so ymmv. Rock piles are also good.
When the oak/ash trees drop leaves, I mulch them with the mower and collect them for use around the tree bases, that is supposed to be good for fireflys and stuff.
We have not watered our garden at all this year.
If you can find native plants, use them because they are already adapted to your area.
I tried to do microclover for our yard but since we had grass already it didn’t really take off. I also tried using buffalo grass with the same result. I do tend to let our grass go longer, its better for water conservation and I refuse to use clean water for grass growth.
For compost, we do table scraps mixed with leaves and yard clippings. I didn’t do it properly and ended up accidentally planting 10,000 papaya plants in our yard that the freeze killed off.
I have some blue salvia looking tree thing that is constantly covered in pollinators that grew super quick. They plant them on the highway medians around Houston and its been awesome. The flower smell great too.
Thanks for the giggle.