Winter Gardening for Pollinators
This is the second in a series of articles written by an EHS member, Sarah Joy Bennett.
It’s cold. It’s grey. It’s exhausting!
At this time of year, it’s hard to believe that everything outside is still alive. We live in a part of the world that has a dormant season in its growing cycle, and while that can sometimes get us down, there are still things we can do both for the pollinators, and for ourselves during these cold, dark days.
Source Native Seeds
One of the best things winter offers us gardeners is time to reflect and plan for our next growing season. Consider what worked well, and what you would do differently. What did you learn about your growing space last year? What new things will you try this year? Hot drinks and seed catalogues can help a lot, so why not take a little time and look into what native seeds/seedlings are available for the spring?
https://www.wildflowerfarm.com
https://www.originnativeplants.com
It is always best to order from seed suppliers that are in your own region, if at all possible.
When you order from a local grower you are getting seeds saved from plants that have adapted to our local climate, soil and growing conditions. As an extra bonus, you can get specialized advice and growing tips directly from the people who grow these plants, and you’ll be investing in small businesses that are committed to local bio-diversity.
Winter Sowing
Seed shopping is the easy part - now let’s get our hands dirty!
A lot of native seeds require cold stratification to grow well. That’s because they have adapted over thousands of years to our local growing conditions, and that includes winter. So your best bet when growing native seeds is to do winter sowing. This is a fun and inexpensive way of starting your native seeds.
You do this by making a mini greenhouse out of an empty, clear plastic jug or food container, planting it with potting soil and your native seeds, then placing it outside. That’s right. Outside in that grey, horrible, cold. Let them be snowed on and rained on (Note: if it is a very dry winter you may need to moisten the soil every now and again, but if your greenhouse is covered with snow you are set!) Leave them out there until they miraculously start growing shoots in the spring time! Then you will transplant them into your chosen space into the garden.
Because a picture is worth a thousand words, here is a link to a very good instructional video by Garden Answer, that will walk you through how to do winter sowing.
Think how good it will be to see your first butterfly, your first bumble bee, and think what good work they will be doing in your garden this growing season! You can do something sweet for them (and yourself) this winter by preparing to add more pollinator plants into your growing space.