Pause for Pollinators

By Mary LaFrance

There is a popular Facebook post among garden enthusiast that asks if we can resist the urge to clean our gardens too early in spring? The post urges gardeners to refrain from cleaning out old debris and turning over the soil too early because pollinators overwinter in hollow sticks and under dried leaves. I admit when I first read it I didn't think it was real because everybody knows that pollinators, like butterflies, migrate south for the winter. That is, until I started to do some research and it turns out most pollinators hibernate during the winter months and waiting to clean out a garden is a really good thing!

Pollinators are vital to the success of our gardens, and some would argue, to the continuation of mankind. You see, pollinator describe the important job that hummingbirds, bats, bees, beetles, butterflies, and others do to keep our fruits and vegetables in good supply. They bounce along from flower to flower, picking up pollen from one and transporting it to another, effectively assisting in the development of the foods we enjoy. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, 'Three-fourths of the world's flowering plants and about 35 percent of the world's food crops depend on animal pollinators to reproduce.' Chances are, if you grew some fruits or vegetables in your garden last year, you have pollinators overwintering in your garden right now!

So, if pollinators are a good thing then how does inaction translate to their protection? Easy, by leaving garden beds undisturbed you are allowing important pollinators, like ladybugs and bees, time to emerge from their hiding places unscathed, and to get back to doing their important garden work! A general rule of thumb is to wait to clean up garden beds until temperatures in your area are consistently 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 C). The longer we wait to clean our gardens, the better chance pollinators have at continuing to contribute to a healthy garden ecosystem.

But, eventually you do have to clean up the garden bed and get ready for planting and to make sure that you have given pollinators the best chance at surviving until spring, you can still do some things to help them along. While cleaning out old stems look for ends plugged with mud, which might be home to hibernating bees. Other pollinators, like butterflies and ladybugs nest in piles of dried leaf debris. These stems and leaf piles can be moved to the corner of the garden safe from harm. Even if you do not see them with your own eyes, guaranteed by taking this extra step you just saved a pollinator that will repay you by giving your garden a healthy boost.

I know it might be challenging not jumping into our garden plots these first nice spring days, but it is important that we try. As more and more green space is replaced with development and roads, there is less habitat for pollinators to safely wait out winter. By staying out of the gardens for a little while, and checking for places where pollinators like to hide, we are protecting not just the pollinator's species, but possibly our own species as well.