Bee pollination plays an essential role in our world’s ecosystem. Many plants rely on pollination to thrive, but various environmental issues are causing population drops for these important insects. There are ways for individuals to help them, however, and it all starts with your own home garden.

How does cross-contamination impact our food supplies?

Cross-pollination is where pollen from the flower of one plant fertilizes the flower of another plant. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, cross-pollination helps about 90 percent of our wild plants and around 30 percent of the crops we rely on around the world. This process can take place with the help of wind, bats, beetles, butterflies, and birds, but bees are one of the most effective pollinators around.

Agriculture Solutions explains that human nutrition, food diversity, and food security all rely on pollinators and the cross-pollination fertilization process is essential in producing strong plants and high yields of fruits and vegetables. The process helps provide genetic variability within a plant’s population, allowing it to better adapt as conditions change.

Continue reading “Designing Your Bee Garden: How Cross-Pollination Plays A Key Role In Growing Your Plants” →

When the rain refuses to fall for an extended period of time, every living thing begins to suffer; the earth cracks, the flowers wilt, and thirst sets in. For these and many other reasons, droughts are dreaded. However, living things are resilient creatures who have survived and thrived in droughts since the beginning of time. Being prepared especially in drought-prone areas helps us to be drought-resistant. Check out our tips on drought-tolerant pollinator gardens!

Why Create a Drought-Tolerant Pollinator Garden

In an effort to conserve resources, one of the first things we do when a drought hits us is water our flowers and green-spaces less often. As a result of that conservation, our flora begins to die off and the bees, butterflies and other pollinators start to disappear. The presence of bees is especially imperative nowadays as they are becoming endangered. Therefore, it’s important that we attempt to keep them around in the dryer times. We can do this by creating a drought-tolerant pollinator garden.

Why are Bees So Important?

Bees are nature’s most generous pollinators. In fact, they are responsible for pollinating approximately seventy percent of the produce we love to eat and around one-sixth of the flowering plants that beautify the earth. Not only that, bees also supply us with nutritious honey, beeswax, royal jelly and bee pollen. Therefore, if we want to stay healthy and nourished we need to do a better job at stewarding these friendly buzzers.
Continue reading “Creating a Drought-Tolerant Pollinator Garden” →

Fall might mean less time behind the lawn mower and fewer greens in the garden, but property owners shouldn’t pack away their work gloves just yet. Here are some tips to help homeowners prepare yards and gardens to weather winter and get off to a solid start next spring.

Start at the top

One of the first fall chores involves focusing your attention up rather than down. You should make sure your gutters are clear and working properly by pouring water into them once you clean out any leaves and other debris. A gutter’s goal is to divert water away from a home’s foundation. Water should also be directed away from driveways and walkways, where it can freeze and cause slick spots once temperatures drop.

Continue reading “Advice to Homeowners on Fall Garden and Yard Maintenance” →