Pollinators of all kinds – some no bigger than the size of your thumbnail – form a huge part of the foundation of the food chain, and help sustain the vast majority of animal life. Even humans. They include bees, butterflies, beetles, hummingbirds and more!
It’s been found that encouraging more bees and other pollinators to frequent any given agricultural area helps farmers in a big way. Take blueberries, for example. The National University of Rio Negro found that “increasing the prevalence of wildflower plants to support wild pollinators increased yields of blueberry plants and profit for farmers.” – Cambridge Butterfly Conservatory
According to Guelph University, 32 of Ontario’s economically important crops are pollinated by bees and other animals. Speaking globally, the estimated economic value of crops that rely on pollination is $690 billion per year.
Here are just some of the foods pollinators help provide worldwide:
- Field crops: cucumber, watermelon, tomato, pumpkin, squash
- Orchard fruit: apples, peaches, cherries
- Berry crops: blueberries, cranberries, strawberries
- Oilseed crops: canola, soybean, sunflower, alfalfa
- Nuts: cashews, macadamia
- Life necessities: coffee and chocolate
And it’s not all about humans and our food sources; about 90% of all flowering plants rely on those same pollinators for survival.
When we think of pollination, often the first insect to come to mind is the honey bee. In Ontario, however, pollinators include about 420 different types of bees, plus flies, butterflies, wasps, beetles, bats, and hummingbirds.
If we’re going to keep growing as a population and consuming ridiculous amounts of crops, it’s important that we, in turn, provide for and preserve as many different kinds of pollinators as possible – many of which are already severely endangered.
So what can the average Ontarian do to help? Sure, farmers and those with significant acreage and a plethora of vegetation on their properties have a lot more opportunity to give back. However, even city dwellers can help preserve the pollinator population in a few different ways and today we’d like to discuss a couple of them in particular: gardens that specifically cater to pollinators.
Rewilding & Naturalizing Your Yard
Gosh, I love that word: “rewilding”. Sounds neat, doesn’t it?
In North America, pretty much from birth, we’re conditioned to desire and revere the suburban dream: large family home in a quiet neighbourhood, white picket fence around an immaculately-cut lawn, 2.5 kids, 2-car garage – the works. For the most part, there’s no harm in adopting that dream and trying to turn it into reality – if that’s your jam.
However, one of those things is actually quite harmful, ecologically speaking. Simply put, urban greenspace and lawn management deplete floral resources (e.g. nectar and pollen) that pollinators need to survive. When it comes to a thriving natural environment, biodiversity is key.
The grass isn’t always greener, so to speak.
Growing a natural garden is a great way to enhance and support native species and urban biodiversity. Doing so reduces water and fertilizer usage while requiring less maintenance than traditional lawns. Additionally, native perennials add seasonal support to wildlife throughout the year.
In 1996, the court case Bell v. Toronto (City) set a precedent that naturalized gardens are an expression of personal environmental beliefs and values that are protected under the Charter. – Ecological Design Lab
Unlike some other cities in Ontario which bylaws require residents to apply for an exemption to naturalize their yards, as of 2022, Torontonians are welcomed and encouraged to do so, provided plants near roadways are not more than 3 feet high; gardeners must be mindful of maintaining lines of sight, keeping fire hydrants unobstructed. The yard also must be free of noxious plants like ragweed, poison ivy, and poison sumac.
The rewards aren’t purely environmental either. Aesthetically speaking, many prefer the wildflower look to uniform grass. And, as we’ll discuss below, a more natural plant environment means an increase in pollinating visitors like bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds!
Our world faces A LOT of serious threats ranging from pollution to wars to natural disasters. Helping to preserve as much of our natural environment as possible, and ensuring pollinators will keep our crops in good health and keep us well fed seems like the least we can do, doesn’t it?
Read more in-depth information on naturalization and rewilding here: Nature Ontario.
Butterfly Gardens
If you aren’t ready to kick all your grass to the curb just yet, that’s okay! Many Torontonians use portions of their lawn, garden beds, and planter boxes to grow what are loosely termed ‘butterfly gardens’. This means that they are great habitats for pollinators but especially for butterflies, skipjacks, and moths. As butterflies have four distinct stages of life (egg, larva, chrysalis, and adult), these gardens contain plants that support all four stages.
Not only will you have a beautiful garden of native plants, shrubs, and wildflowers, but you’ll also be putting out a vacancy sign for all the beautiful butterflies of the neighbourhood. (Not to mention other pollinators like bees and moths.)
Butterfly gardening is not just a recreational activity to view butterflies interacting with the environment. That’s definitely a big perk, but there are other reasons too. Besides wanting to see all the ‘pretty’, people create these habitats meant to nourish and house butterflies to combat the impacts of habitat fragmentation and degradation (the result of pesticides, woody encroachment, non-native plants etc.)
Once you decide to create a butterfly garden you’ll want to do a little research on exactly what plants and flowers it should include. This will depend on where you live, as you’ll want to use ones that are native to Ontario, plus you’ll want to be catering to types of butterflies that already frequent the area.
It’s not all about creating the perfect habitat to house all four stages of butterfly life, either. For some migratory pollinators like the monarch butterfly, it will simply be a place to recharge on their journey. So don’t stress over have every single plant and flower your research recommends.
Some other considerations for your future butterfly garden include the importance of natural windbreaks (so eggs and larvae simply don’t blow away), as well as the position of the sun. You’ll want to choose a south-facing plot if possible; “butterflies are ectothermic and rely on solar radiation for their metabolism. South-facing slopes are an ideal location for a butterfly garden, as they provide the most solar radiation.” – Wikipedia
One of the tenants in the upstairs unit of our past listing on Hallam Street ( A Fantastic Flex House In Dovercourt Village – NOW SOLD! ) was responsible for the creation and maintenance of the butterfly garden in the naturalized front yard.
Here’s what she told us about the garden, which plants and flowers she planted and why:
“The garden out front has brought me lots of joy, particularly during the pandemic. It can be a tricky garden to steward — it faces north, which means it gets a lot of shade, and butterfly gardens often face south. In the spring the garden is much more tidy and low to the ground. The violets, wild strawberries, chives and red columbine are in bloom, while the rest of the plants start spreading their leaves, fragrant sweetgrass comes up alongside a contrasting paler grass at the back.
In early summer, the wild strawberries can be harvested (a handful of tiny, very sweet little berries), and there are bountiful garlic scapes to harvest. The Nine-bark Bush at the back of the garden has gorgeous white balls of tiny flowers. The Echinaceas are in bloom, the Hostas sprout flowers, and the clematis that climb the porch open up with big purple blooms. Most importantly, the Anise Hyssop flowers (the one with the tall purple stalks), which we affectionately call the ‘bee bush’ because it ALWAYS has at least twenty bees peacefully doing their thing (they don’t interfere with porch time or gardening as long as you respect them!).
By fall, the garden starts to look a bit unruly— the Cosmos love to reach toward the sidewalk, the purple aster can grow up to 6 feet tall if left to its own devices, and we always struggle to keep the frost aster from falling over. They’re all reaching for the sun! It’s spectacular in September when the golden rod and the New England Aster complement each other with their vibrant yellow and purple. We use the small patch to the left of the house for growing herbs and vegetables. We’ve had success with Zucchini, tomatoes, green beans, lettuce, basil, and parsley. We also have a sage plant that flourishes massively.
It’s a bit different every year, the garden. Nature loves to be unexpected. I love to apply the lessons I learn from the previous season to the next, filling in the holes, and taming the spreaders, but each year also presents new challenges and delightful surprises. Like a second bee bush!”
By turning towards more sustainable lawn practices, we are reimagining the “perfect lawn” as one that is truly green.
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If you enjoyed this post, you may like these other green Urbaneer.com blogs:
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Dear Urbaneer: What Is Involved With Installing An Electric Vehicle Charger In Toronto?
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