How can you attract pollinators to your garden?

It’s springtime — which means you’re likely to see bumble bees buzzing around, hard at work pollinating. But what attracts pollinators like bees to a garden? And what sorts of pollinators can you find in the Northwest?

“We have a good variety of bumble bees, large variety of different types of beetles,” Ellen Miller, the vice president of the Washington State Beekeepers Association, said. 

When you hear the word “pollinators,” you might immediately think of bumble bees. But it’s not just bees — birds, butterflies and even bats can be pollinators too.

Miller said getting to know the area you’re planting in is key to creating a pollinator-friendly garden. That includes knowing about what type of soil is around, or what kind of watering system might be needed.

While the specific plants to attract pollinators will vary from region to region, Miller said to stick with as much native vegetation as possible. 

“Native plants … also attracts native pollinators, so it’s a sort of win-win on both sides,” she said.

Miller also says to be cautious about any plants that require a lot of chemicals, as they don’t mix well with pollinators.

“What are you going to do about those dandelions? Because you don’t want to be spraying them when they’re blooming, because that hurts the pollinators badly,” she said.

She said it’s also important to take into consideration the life cycles of different pollinators. They’ll often need different plants throughout certain stages of life. Monarch butterflies, for example, feed on the nectar of flowers as adults. But as caterpillars, they need milkweed.

Another Miller tip: As you clean up dead plants from your garden, be aware that some pollinators might be using coarser-stemmed plants to raise their young.

“Some of the bees will lay their eggs inside the hollow tubes of those particular flower stems. So by cutting them out and throwing them away, you actually have destroyed a whole generation of bee eggs,” she said.

If you don’t have a lot of outdoor space, consider container gardening. Miller said foragers will like them just as much as a full garden — and clustering the pots together is even more attractive to pollinators. 

And if everything doesn’t turn out perfectly during your first growing season, don’t worry — that’s normal. Miller says to be prepared for some trial and error. 

“There’s going to be some things you think are going to be fine, and either they spread too much and they’ll get out of control because they’re doing so fine, or they don’t do well at all and for whatever reason, something isn’t making them happy in that site,” she said.