The Iowa Gardener: So you want to plant a pollinator garden

An increasing number of gardeners want to create pollinator gardens to give a helping hand to this struggling group of insects.

While it can be fun to create a garden area with a specific theme, the fact is that just about any garden filled with trees, shrubs, flowers, and herbs — when tended with environmentally sensitive practices — is a pollinator garden.

That's because pollinators like a variety of plants that provide shelter, nectar and pollen as well as specific foliage for caterpillars to devour. In Iowa, any sunny landscape full of trees, shrubs, flowers, herbs, and ground covers will naturally attract and nurture pollinators.

By comparison, pollinators will not thrive in sterile yards with nothing but a few small shrubs set alongside a perfect lawn that regularly mowed and doused with pesticides.

With pollinators, it's definitely a matter of “Plant it and they will come.”

What are pollinators?

Pollinators are any animals that help plants produce fruits and seeds by carrying pollen from one flower to another. When we think of pollinators, we usually think of insects such as bees and some butterflies, but pollinators can include birds and even bats.

Without pollinators, we would not have the fruits, nuts, and vegetables that comprise about 35 percent of global food production, according to Iowa State University.

Common insect pollinators in Iowa include honeybees, bumble bees, solitary bees, beetles, butterflies, flies, ants and wasps, according to Iowa State. They pollinate plants in the search of food, usually nectar or pollen, which is a source of protein for them.

How do you attract pollinators?

It's not hard to attract pollinators to your garden. Here's how.