Our Pollinator Garden Is Working

Last year we completed two (16' x 4') pollinator gardens in front of the hatchery.  We knew when we returned this year that, if the budget permitted, we would be putting in two more.

First bed completed in 2018.

On May 30th we outlined the 2 new gardens and sprayed weed killer. 

New beds outlined and sprayed.

On June 7th we bought cobblestones, and mulch.

On June 29th we started digging out all the dead roots.  It took a while to get back to the gardens because there was a lot of rain this month and we were very busy with other projects.

Digging out roots, rocks, grubs, etc.

On July 6th we finished laying the cobblestone border on both beds.

Digging a trench for the cobblestone.

On July 25 we purchased plants from the garden center.

Laying out our plant purchases.

We dug in all the plants the next day and spread mulch.

Completed bed.

Fred (biologist) dug a few plants out of his yard to plant in the new gardens.  We didn’t have enough money in the budget to fill in both beds.

The plants in last year’s gardens were very slow coming in and we were disappointed in the number of plants that didn’t survive the winter.  We planted all perennials.  We returned to the garden center where they were purchased and talked to some of the employees.  Apparently, some of our plants where only hardy to 10 below zero.  This past winter was bitterly cold and lasted longer than usual.

With the exception of one end, both new pollinator gardens are completed.  Fred will bring in some more plants from his garden to complete the bed.

Four 16' x 4' gardens completed.

Is our pollinator garden working?  It sure is!  We have lots of bees and this year we have seen monarch butterflies laying eggs.

Monarch butterfly egg.

We have also been finding monarch caterpillars happily munching on milkweed.

Monarch caterpillar.

This was a very enjoyable 2-year project.