If you sit still in your garden long enough you will begin to notice all the movement and noise of tiny visitors. Almost all of these visitors are a friend of nature and beneficial to your garden in many aspects.

With flowering perennials, shrubs and trees you must have the pollinators, these include bees, bats, moths, butterflies, many other insects and hummingbirds among other birds. The pollen has to be distributed in order for these plants to strut their stuff, plants cannot produce their own fruits and seeds. Seventy five percent of our food crops, including chocolate and coffee, depend on these small angels.

You can do several things in your garden to assure their wellbeing as they wing their way outward and onward to other plants. You can plant a pollinator garden, this is composed of a variety of plants which bloom at different times of the year. By doing this you supply nectar and pollen sources throughout your growing season.

A variety of flower shapes and colors planted in clumps provide an ideal area for them to gather. Try to plant native species when you can, they will attract more native pollinators which is better for the environment. Nature’s Friends Landscaping can help you do this and many other creative tasks in your landscape to make it more appealing to the friends of nature.

In addition, try to avoid or limit your use of pesticides as these are detrimental to our insect pollinators. When you create a diverse landscape it helps to bring the native predators to discourage the pests you want to eliminate. Accept some pest activity as it is normal in nature. If you must use a pesticide acquire one which is minimally toxic to non pests, apply it only where needed, and in the evening when the pollinators are less active.