I mentioned in my post last month that many of the pepper plants I grew from seed this year were infected by bacterial leaf spot. I did my best to remove diseased material from the garden, but undoubtedly some of it still lingers in the soil and might survive to infect plants next year, so I will plan to grow varieties that are resistant to this disease.
Pepper leaves infected by bacterial leaf spot. Photo from HGIC.
And no, I don’t just have a list of these varieties in my head. I’ll have to do some research. Maybe you’ve faced this problem too, when all or some of your tomatoes or squash or some other vegetable succumbed to a disease you managed to get identified—and your friendly Master Gardener or Extension specialist advised you to plant resistant varieties. How do you go about finding them?
First, check out Cornell Cooperative Extension’s Disease Resistant Vegetable Varieties page. Here you can find a list for each of many common vegetables of available varieties and the diseases to which they’re resistant. For example, if you have a problem with fusarium wilt in tomatoes, click on Tomato and then skim down the list to note all the varieties with fusarium wilt resistance. (Lucky you; there are lots.) You can also download the information in spreadsheet form for easy reference.
If you have favorite seed catalogs, they can be another good source. Most seed catalogs will add codes to each variety listing that represent disease resistance; for example, fusarium wilt is coded as “F” and if you see “F1-2” that means it’s resistant to both races 1 and 2 of fusarium. (The more resistance, the better, since you probably don’t know which race infected your plants.) Somewhere in the catalog section for each vegetable there will be a list of codes and what they mean.
If you don’t grow your own plants from seed, use these resources anyway. Make a list of resistant varieties, find a garden center or other plant source with a wide selection, and pick out the plants that meet your criteria. Make sure the plants you select look healthy!
Here are some other things to keep in mind:
Hybrid varieties are more likely than heirloom or other open-pollinated varieties to have demonstrated disease resistance. If you have anecdotal evidence that an heirloom is pretty resistant, try it out, but you might want to grow it separately from your bed of resistant types. Same goes with that variety you just have to grow because you can’t do without it, but you suspect it may come down with the bug—grow it away from the others.
“Disease resistant” does not mean “can’t possibly get the disease.” If the pathogen is present, it will probably still infect plants, but the resistant plants will stay healthy much longer—maybe until the very end of the season, if you’re lucky.
Know the source of your pathogen: is it present in the soil, or will it reappear blown in on the wind, or is it more likely to come from infected seed or plant material? Knowing a bit about how transmission works will help you strategize to keep plants healthy. The HGIC website is a good source for information about plant diseases and how they spread (hint: look at the entry for the vegetable and it will list relevant diseases).
There may be other methods available to keep disease away, such as treating seeds with bleach or hot water, using fungicides, and most importantly keeping soil around plants covered with mulch to prevent splashing onto leaves. Also try to avoid overhead watering; water at the base of the plant. You can also remove and destroy infected plant parts when you spot them. Using these methods in combination with planting resistant varieties will increase your odds of success.
Do your research and have a bountiful, disease-free growing season next year!
By Erica Smith, Montgomery County Master Gardener. Read more posts by Erica.
Spring bulbs define possibility. Dive into a binful at your local garden center and hold one in your hand. It’s all in there – roots, leaves, stems, and flowers – all the razzle-dazzle of spring in one neat package.
And now’s the time to plant. So get thee to a nursery or online store and start dreaming of a brilliant spring.
Pick big, firm bulbs. Avoid ones with soft or dark spots. Store them in a cool, dark place with good air circulation until you can plant them by October’s end.
Alliums’ spheres add drama to the spring garden. Photo: Christa Carignan, UME
There are dozens of bulbs to choose from with bloom times from February to May. Snowdrops start the season, popping their dainty blossoms through the snow. Crocus follow and are often snow-dusted as well.
Then comes an avalanche of other bulbs: daffodils, hyacinth, tulips, and more. Less well-known but equally rewarding are camassia, scilla, starflower, winter aconite, cyclamen, chionodoxa and allium. Even the names are delicious.
Grand sweeps of tulips are a sure sign of spring. Photo: Judy Kofoet
How do you decide what to plant? If your garden is graced by deer or squirrels, pick bulbs they don’t like such as daffodils, hyacinth, allium, fritillaria, and scilla.
And remember that drifts of bulbs look best. So instead of a few bulbs, plant a dozen or more in a sweep. Go for the ooh la.
Bulbs’ leaves need to die back naturally since the foliage feeds the bulbs for next year, so keep that in mind when choosing a planting site. Hide the fading foliage by mixing bulbs with perennials that are already filling out.
Siberian iris’s fountain of foliage is ideal camouflage as are the unfurling leaves of ferns or hostas. Practice pairing, planting bulbs to come up through a froth of white candytuft or creeping phlox.
Think outside the box and use bulbs anywhere you want a splash of color. Combine them with low groundcovers under trees. Naturalize bulbs on a hill or in a woodland. Tuck them into a rock garden or container.
Daffodils are a great deer-resistant bulb. Photo: Joan Willoughby
What do bulbs need? Plenty of sun, soil that drains well, and reasonably rich soil. To our clay and rocks, add compost and bulb fertilizer and loosen the planting area to a depth of 6 inches or so.
Then plant your bulbs about 3 times their width deep. A one-inch bulb goes three inches deep while a two-inch bulbs goes six inches down. Dig the hole with a trowel and pop in your bulb, pointy end up.
Space bulbs according to the guidelines on their packaging. Top with soil, water, and mulch.
Aftercare of bulbs is easy. Dig and divide them every few years either after the foliage dies back – when they’re easiest to find – or in the fall if you’ve cleverly marked their location.
Can you garden without bulbs? Yes, but why would you? They are just the ticket for jazzing up your garden beds.
By Annette Cormany, Principal Agent Associate and Master Gardener Coordinator, Washington County, University of Maryland Extension.
I recently visited a splendid Bay-Wise demonstration site at Baltimore’s Cylburn Arboretum with Maryland Extension’s Native Plant Specialist Lisa Kuder. We dropped in on a workshop with Cylburn staff about dividing perennial plants and visited the Arboretum’s rain garden, brilliant with colorful fall native plants.
Rain garden at Cylburn Arboretum. Photo: Stacy Small-Lorenz
Along the way, Lisa and I discussed strategies that can be practiced to expand herbaceous native plant coverage, as we admired the Arboretum garden grounds and mansion. We noticed right away that the gardeners wisely left the post-bloom common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) standing in all their wilted majesty throughout the otherwise manicured gardens as the seed pods developed and cracked open to release seed.
Milkweed seeds. Photo: Stacy Small-Lorenz
To seed or not to seed?
Cylburn horticulturalists are allowing the milkweed to go to seed and expand by putting out runners and sprouting new growth along the edges of their otherwise traditionally immaculate garden beds. Garden Educator Ron Roberto explained that they prefer to allow the milkweed to spread throughout the gardens by seed or rhizomally, by sending out runners, rather than dividing and transplanting (although I have personally had some luck transplanting “rescue” milkweeds from dense patches a few times).
Milkweed sprouts at Cylburn. Photo: Stacy Small-Lorenz
In days past, people may have viewed common milkweed as a messy weed to be eliminated from such stately grounds, and some still may. Now its importance to the rapidly declining monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) and other beautiful pollinators is more widely recognized, but it is important to note that the stems and seeds of the plant have ecological value beyond its prime bloom time. Common milkweed flowers are boisterously showy and fragrant, but keeping the sturdy stems, fading leaves and seed pods standing after blooms’ end is an important ecological practice and requires us to expand on what we consider beautiful to encompass more aspects of our ecosystems and all of the wondrous life cycles contained within. For small-space gardeners, butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) is a somewhat more demure but also beneficial and beautiful native milkweed to consider planting, but research has shown that monarchs lay the most eggs on common and swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata).
Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata). Photo: M. TalabacCommon Milkweed ( (Asclepias syriaca). Photo: M. TalabacButterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa). Photo: C. Carignan
Allowing plants to reproduce by seed maximizes genetic diversity and helps avoid having monocultures in your landscape, an important sustainable landscaping principle. Genetic diversity is required to allow plant populations to adapt to variable and changing climate conditions. Too much of the same genetics can result from strictly practicing vegetative propagation from cuttings or plant divisions, leaving plants vulnerable to things like disease, pests, reproductive failure, or climate extremes of drought or flood. So let those fall milkweeds stand and go to seed. There’s a good chance that the stems will also become host to beneficial pollinators like native bees over the winter, as well.
Why divide perennials, then, you say?
Well, divisions are necessary to keep some perennial plant species healthy, to stimulate new growth, reduce crowding, and sustainably manage garden beds. Robin Wall Kimmerer, author of Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants writes, “Our elders taught that the relationship between plants and humans must be one of balance. People can take too much and exceed the capacity of the plants to share again. That’s the voice or hard experience that resonates in the teachings of “never take more than half.” And yet, they also teach that we can take too little. If we allow traditions to die, relationships to fade, the land will suffer. These laws are the product of hard experience, of past mistakes. And not all plants are the same; each has its own way of regenerating.”
Carefully dividing perennials can be a sustainable and economical way to expand your native plant coverage in your landscape and keep your plants healthy. Native plant exchanges across neighborhoods are one strategy to boost genetic diversity if you’re interested in spreading the native plant love beyond your own yard by safely sharing your native plants. We look forward to establishing a Bay-Wise Native Plant Exchange via social media in the near future, so watch this space for more details to come.
When should I divide perennials?
In general, you’ll want to avoid dividing plants while blooming. The cooler temperatures of spring and fall also help reduce heat stress on the plant. It will be easier to dig and separate out plants at the roots following a rain. I know what I’ll be doing this weekend! I have a sprawling patch of woodland sunflowers (Helianthus divaricatus) along my driveway that were a veritable AirB&Bee all summer long that have now gone to seed, so it’s time to thin them out and expand my sunflower bed to absorb more of our stormwater runoff.
Red-banded hairstreak butterfly on woodland sunflower. Photo: Stacy Small-Lorenz
If native grasses are your thing, cool-season grasses are best divided in the early fall, warm-season grasses in early spring. More details about when and how to divide different types of perennials can be found on Clemson University’s website.
The great divide
To get started, you will first need to decide if you are going to pot or immediately relocate your divides. If you are potting up your divides, set up a simple potting station nearby with small pots, a transplant tool or knife, loose, clean soil, and compost or leaf mulch. I like Leaf Gro because it is a Maryland sustainable product made from locally collected leaves. You may want to have a water mister bottle or some wet cloth (burlap or a light cotton towel or damp sheet will do) or paper to protect the exposed roots, as well. If you are relocating the divides elsewhere in your landscaping, prepare your planting hole ahead of time by digging double the volume as the root ball and sprinkling in layers of leaf mulch and loose soil.
Now you are ready to divide the plant. If the soil is damp, this whole process will be easier on you and the plant. Gently dig up an outer portion of your native plant, working your way around the entire section with the shovel, assessing root depth as you go. Try to get all the way under the root tips before lifting the plant out of the ground. Think vertically rather than horizontally. Our aim is to divide the root system but not to cut the roots short.
When dividing or transplanting any native plants to transplant within your yard, you may want to keep some of the soil that the plant is currently rooted in, as the roots tend to establish important relationships with local soil microbes and fungi. If you wish to share with your neighbors and Bay-Wise Community, though, please be mindful of not spreading weed seeds or pests like invasive jumping worms! Don’t share soil from your yard if you know jumping worms or other invasives to be present. If you are unsure about the presence of invasives in your yard, bare root plants in sterile potting soil instead, to be safe. Mindfully sharing divided perennials is just one way of spreading the native plant love for a climate-resilient and healthy Chesapeake Bay landscape!
After digging up a small portion of the plant, gently knock off chunks of soil back into the hole you dug it from with your planting tool or fingers. Shake loose soil right back into the hole with some leaf mulch to repair the garden bed and gently work excess soil out of the roots with your fingers.
Woodland sunflower, bare roots. Photo: Stacy Small-Lorenz
Keep the roots moist as you work, using your damp cloth, paper, or mister bottle, and have your new planting hole prepared for quick relocation. If immediate relocation isn’t your goal, have your planting pots and tray, clean water bucket, sterile potting soil, and compost ready at your planting station.
You’re now ready to divide the root ball with a transplanting tool or knife into smaller sections, being careful to wear good gardening gloves, or you can gently work the roots apart with your fingers if you’re working with small clumps. At this point, you can remove any dead vegetation and trim the green portions back to about 6 inches. Re-pot in clean, small pots with loose, sterile soil and a sprinkle of leaf mulch.
Now you have native plants to safely share or relocate to expand your pollinator or rain garden!
QUICK TIPS: Try to get photos of your plant in bloom to share in your plant exchange or for your own garden design needs. Label the pots or mark your garden map so that you don’t forget what you have over the winter!
By Stacy Small-Lorenz, Agent, Residential Landscape Ecology, University of Maryland Extension.Read more posts by Stacy.
Over the years, I have been involved in several initiatives that aim to summarize and translate our knowledge of insects, biodiversity, and some of the ecological services they provide, so that it can be understood by policymakers and the general public to inform decision-making and help ourselves and the living planet. The overwhelming take-home of these works is that insects (and biodiversity in general) are declining at a very fast speed, with very negative consequences on our ability to survive in a less diverse future world. When taking on these knowledge translation activities, however, there is one topic that keeps coming back: people are scared of insects (and wildlife, generally)! Then, how to promote the protection of something we’re scared of and disgusted by? In this blog post, I decided to embark on a mission: to help us understand our fears and recognize how they may be affecting our ability to protect the natural world, and what we can do to turn the wave on this to the benefit of all. Keep reading; I promise I will not shame or judge anybody 😉.
Insects (only beetles shown in this picture) are the most diverse and abundant group of animals and play central roles in maintaining ecosystems. Photo: “Insects Unlocked” Project, University of Texas at Austin
The biodiversity crisis – a real problem with real consequences
There is now massive evidence that biodiversity is being lost. This is true for many groups of organisms, but here I want to focus on one in particular: insects. Why? Insects are the most diverse and abundant group of animals and, as such, they are deeply embedded in the running of the natural world. This diversity and abundance turn insects into sorts of ecosystem architects and janitors. They pollinate, feed on other organisms, degrade organic material and make nutrients available for others to consume, disperse seeds, and much more! Beyond the importance of all this to all organisms, these functions, in particular, are central to allowing us to produce food, maintain soil quality and balance, sustain rich ecosystems, and naturally control pests. Promoting insect protection, however, often faces a big challenge: low traction and low engagement, given the fear of insects.
Fear of insects – an encounter between humans and our natural world
Fear and disgust of insects is a very widespread feeling, especially in developed countries and urbanized societies. Although it is understood that the presence of fear or disgust usually develops as a protection system against potential dangers (and there are a few insects that we need to be wary of!), the extent to which fear of insects is present goes beyond what would be needed to properly protect us from a potential danger… And this is starting to have an impact on our ability (and willingness) to protect this important part of biodiversity. How does this work?
People have been studying fear of insects for a while and their findings are really interesting (you can read some neat reviews on this in Current Opinion in Insect Science and Science of the Total Environment). For example, researchers think that this extreme fear of insects may have evolved as a sort of “smoke alarm” (a loud but very non-specific type of alarm). In fact, there is reason to have respect for some insects, since some of them can lead to painful and potentially fatal bites/stings or can carry diseases. The presence of fear against those insects thus makes sense, because they lead to protecting our health. However, there is a balance to be found between responding to a real danger (e.g., hitting a hornet’s nest) or to an inexistent one (e.g., encountering a moth). Because the cost of responding to an inexistent danger is not super high in this case (like for a “smoke alarm”), then an extreme response to any insect can simply appear and spread through human populations. In this case, the only way to “tune” such an extreme response is to learn how to recognize harmful from non-harmful insects, something that many programs (including this blog! 😊) try to do.
Going back to biodiversity conservation, it is illuminating and empowering to realize that the simple action of learning can lead to increased conservation actions… learning when there is reason to stay away from insects or not leads to an appreciation of their huge diversity and more engagement in their protection. Some ways to do this involve using formal learning methods like courses, books, or guides, but also some more interactive ones, such as citizen science projects like iNaturalist or group-specific projects (e.g., the fireflies atlas).
Rearing insects at home (like this monarch butterfly) can be a fun and learning-rich experience through which our appreciation for insects can grow and our fear decrease. Photo: Tim and Selena Middleton (CC)
Another way this fear develops is through social learning. As humans, we can learn through both direct experiences and social interactions. In fact, studies have shown that a large part of this establishment of fear or disgust in humans is learned through interpersonal interactions and not innate. For example, people have discovered that before age 5, most kids are not repelled by most insects or arthropods, and that the level of fear and disgust kids show is correlated with the fear their caretakers have of them. We see this a lot in our work. The Insect Zoo of our Department at the University of Maryland (UMD) is a very popular attraction at outreach events such as UMD’s open house event, Maryland Day. When participating in this event, we see time and time again how kids are not afraid of petting insects or other arthropods, while their parents are grunting and screaming in the background at the simple sight of one. Dealing with this learned fear is a bit trickier because it requires caretakers to become more aware of how they can imprint fear in kids. However, seeking to better understand and recognize insects and their potential (or not) of harm can help break this cycle. Rearing with kids insects like butterflies can be a great positive experience for all, and can happen in pretty much any house. Engaging in learning activities with kids, such as through insect summer camps (UMD has a super-fun Bug Camp!), is another way to restrict the establishment of this type of fear.
Petting zoos and other exhibits that feature insects and other arthropods can be a great way to engage kids and adults in healthy and safe interactions with organisms they may fear. Photo: UMD Department of Entomology.
Finally, there is another way this fear may appear. We said above that this sort of fear is more common in urbanized societies. It is thought that a part of the fear may come from a lack of exposure to biodiversity. Under urbanization, there is indeed a removal of contact with natural environments, with people becoming less and less exposed to wildlife. When insects are seen (often in the house), the other two types of fears may pop up and join forces to, on the one hand, trigger repulsion or fear and, on the other, increase avoidance of natural spaces that could contain “bugs.” The good news is that even in cases when there are few natural spaces available close to home, there are indeed many ways people can be exposed and establish positive experiences with insects. Visiting exhibits where insects are featured is one of these ways. You can learn about many other ways in this cool article: Teaching About Insects in a World Afraid of Bugs.
By Anahí Espíndola, Associate Professor, Department of Entomology, University of Maryland, College Park. See more posts by Anahí.
Anahí also writes an Extension Blog in Spanish! Check it out here, extensionesp.umd.edu, and please share and spread the word to your Spanish-speaking friends and colleagues in Maryland. ¡Bienvenidos a Extensión en Español!
If I look back at this summer in the vegetable garden objectively, I’d say it was an average success. My garden produced a fair number of tomatoes, peppers, squash and cucumbers. We ate well. But it felt like a really hard year, and I don’t think I’m alone in that experience. We had some nasty heat waves and dry spells, and the plants and produce seemed extra susceptible to damage. I had more cracking and insect damage on my tomatoes than usual, and the plants gave up early due to all the fungal disease. Squash collapsed from vine borers and cucumbers got all the blights. My peppers were the biggest disappointment, battling bacterial leaf spot both in my own beds and at the Derwood Demo Garden. I think some infected seed was to blame, since a few ‘Big Red’ plants were the first to show symptoms, but the disease spread quickly to all the rest.
I’m very invested in gardening, so I’m not going to give up even though I know the struggles are likely to continue; our climate issues aren’t going to get any better and the bugs and diseases are here to stay. I don’t think you should give up either! But I can see how a beginner might feel very daunted.
Here are a few ideas about making your garden less exhausting and more rewarding. I’m writing them down because I need to read them as much as anyone!
The news out of the southeastern US following Hurricane Helene is heart-wrenching. Up to a foot of heavy rain fell on saturated soils across mountainous western North Carolina, in the fallout of a hurricane that made landfall in Florida but dumped 40 trillion gallons of rainwater across several states.
Aerial photo of Tropical Storm Helene flood damage in North Carolina. Photo credit: Sgt. 1st Class Leticia Samuels, US Army National Guard
Inland communities were not spared from this coastal storm that sent torrents of water through mountain towns, leaving a wake of wreckage in its path. Roads, bridges, and buildings have collapsed under the force of debris-laden flood waters throughout the region.
Airlift rescues and supply drops are underway, but many residents remain cut off, and countless are yet unaccounted for across the region at the time of writing. The Federal government has issued Major Disaster declarations for areas of North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Marylanders hold all affected by this powerful storm in our hearts and stand ready to support their recovery.
Extreme precipitation events like this are becoming a new norm, brought about by increasingly powerful storms carrying more water, driven by the heat energy of warmer-than-average sea surface temperatures. Hurricanes and tropical storms forming over warmer waters of the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico contain more energy and hold more moisture, with the potential to bring record amounts of rainfall anywhere throughout the Southeast, Mid-Atlantic, and New England regions. Tropical Storm Helene reminds us again that inland and upland regions can still be devastated by coastal storms. The Chesapeake Bay Watershed is no exception.
Animated satellite image of Hurricane Helene. Source: NWS/NOAA
It is with all of this and more on my mind and in my heart that I assume the new role of Residential Landscape Ecologist at University of Maryland Extension. I look forward to advancing green strategies that reduce flood risk and pollution from stormwater runoff into the Chesapeake Bay while enhancing biodiversity. This work is vital to addressing the most extreme impacts of climate change like floods, heavy precipitation, heat waves, and drought. We can do it in ways that reduce greenhouse gas emissions as well and bring a great deal of joy to our lives and communities while we’re at it. The Maryland Bay-Wise Landscape Management Program encourages widespread and strategic uptake of nature-based practices that improve water quality and reduce flood risk.
In this position, I will work closely with university colleagues, agency and NGO partners, and Maryland residents to promote sustainable landscape practices that contribute to a healthy and climate-resilient Chesapeake Bay Watershed. Efforts to retain, slow down, and filter stormwater using native plants and landscaping strategies like rain gardens, pollinator gardens, forest conservation, and riparian buffer strips can help reduce the overall amount of water running off from lawns and impervious surfaces like rooftops and asphalt. Allowing more rainwater to be absorbed where it falls reduces and delays flood peaks downstream while ensuring cleaner water for aquatic species and habitat for beneficial insects, declining songbird populations, and other Maryland wildlife.
Here in this space, I look forward to sharing perspectives on emerging science and trends in climate-resilient sustainable landscapes, environmental horticulture practices and gardening for wildlife, and dialogues with bearers of traditional knowledge – getting my own hands dirty along the way as I share some of my personal experiences with conservation landscaping in my wild corner of the Earth.
I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to join you and my Extension colleagues on this important journey, as there is vital work to be done to ensure a healthy and sustainable future for Maryland communities.
If you would like to help those impacted by Hurricane Helene, Charity Navigator has compiled this list of highly rated organizations providing relief assistance for those affected. Emergency resources for those in the impacted area and their families can be found at FEMA.gov.
By Stacy Small-Lorenz, Agent, Residential Landscape Ecology, University of Maryland Extension.
Raise your hand if you want to help butterflies, bees, and other pollinators. Good for you.
In my last blog post, I discussed two ways to help pollinators starting in the fall. Waiting to cut back perennials until spring and letting some leaves lie protects overwintering insects.
But there is so much more you can do to help this fall and year-round. It’s all about creating habitat, providing safe spaces for pollinators to live, eat, shelter and raise young.
My neighbors raised their eyebrows when I plunked a moss-covered log into my landscape. But it looks terrific in my woodland garden, a natural accent that provides shelter and food for wildlife.
Logs are attractive habitats for wildlife, including pollinators. Photo: Annette Cormany
So, adopt a log. Spiders and beetles are attracted to the moist areas under logs and peeling bark. Bees and butterflies nest and overwinter in drier parts of logs.
Logs help other wildlife, too. Chipmunks use them as highways, toads love their moisture, and other critters use them for sunbathing.
Lay logs horizontally, burying one end a few inches to maintain some moisture. And be sure to ask permission before tossing that log into your pickup. Mine came from a family property. Honest.
Dead-standing trees called “snags” also provide habitat for pollinators and other wildlife. As long as a tree poses no danger to you or your home, consider leaving it. What looks messy to us is beautiful to wildlife.
Beetles and other insects burrow through dead wood, creating tunnels that cavity-nesting bees such as mason bees lay their eggs in. Other insects tuck under bark. I once saw a striking mourning cloak butterfly emerge from the bark of a dead tree.
If leaving a whole dead tree is too much for your sense of order or safety is an issue, fell the tree but leave the log in part or whole. Or leave just the stump. Hardwood logs with the bark attached add more varied, longer-lasting habitat.
Stumps offer food and shelter to insects. Photo: Annette Cormany
What else can you do to enhance your habitat for pollinators beyond planting native plants that flower from spring to frost? Plenty.
Add a rock pile or wall. Bumblebees, leafcutter bees, and wasps nest in their cavities. Ground beetles and many other insects shelter where soil meets stone.
Stone walls – including this handsome one dressed in lichen – provide shelter and nesting sites for wildlife. Photo: Annette Cormany
Use different sizes and types of rocks and skip the mortar to create more protected nooks and crannies. Planting native plants nearby makes the area even more attractive to pollinators and other beneficial insects.
Thanks for all you are already doing to help support and protect pollinators. It matters.
By Annette Cormany, Principal Agent Associate and Master Gardener Coordinator, Washington County, University of Maryland Extension.
