A pollinator habitat must meet the needs of pollinators, including food, shelter, water and nesting sites. Most of the native pollinator habitat in urban areas in southern Ontario has been taken over by buildings, roads and agriculture. Pollinators struggle to find suitable habitat, shelter and food, resulting in a significant decline in pollinator numbers over the past few decades.
Using native plants is an essential component in creating a successful pollinator garden. Native plants support the greatest diversity of pollinators and many are host plants needed by butterfly and moth caterpillars to complete their life cycle. Native plants have co-evolved with our local pollinator species and they offer specific resources such as leaves, pollen and nectar that pollinators need to survive. To protect pollinators and beneficial insects in your garden, do not use pesticides. A shallow dish of water with small stones in the bottom will provide landing spots for small insects who require a drink.
Most native bees travel only a few hundred metres to forage. Converting lawn into pollinator habitat in residential yards, boulevards, school yards and park areas can provide important waystations between larger protected areas and will help boost pollinator numbers. Plant it and they will come!
Below are some additional resources and favourite links to guide you in creating a pollinator garden in your yard, or perhaps at your church, school or local park.
Selecting Native Plants for Pollinators and Beneficial Insects, Great Lakes Region https://xerces.org/publications/plant-lists/native-plants-for-pollinators-and-beneficial-insects-great-lakes
How to Create Habitat for Stem-nesting Bees https://xerces.org/publications/brochures/save-the-stems
Pollinator Partnership – Selecting Plants for Pollinators https://pollinatorpartnership.ca/assets/generalFiles/Manitoulin.LakeSimcoe.2017.pdf
Pollinator Syndromes https://www.pollinator.org/pollinator.org/assets/generalFiles/Pollinator-Syndromes.png
Upper Thames River Conservation Authority – Butterfly Larvae Host Plants https://thamesriver.on.ca/wp-content/uploads/Butterfly-larvae-hostplants.pdf
Keystone Native Plants for our Ecoregion https://www.nwf.org/-/media/documents/PDFs/Garden-for-wildlife/Keystone-Plants/nwf-gfw-keystone-plant-list-ecoregion-8-eastern-temperate-forests.pdf
Native Plants for Pollinators https://cvc.ca/document/plant-list-native-plants-for-pollinators/
Bee City https://beecitycanada.org
Carolinian Canada – In The Zone Garden Tracker https://caroliniancanada.ca/tracker
North American Native Plant Society https://nanps.org
The Xerces Society https://xerces.org
