Celebrating Pollinator Week: Supporting Bees in your Yard and Garden

06/25/21 • 79 min

We’ve all heard that bees are in trouble, but you may wonder why, and more importantly what you can do to support bees and other pollinators. In this episode of Granite State Gardening, UNH Extension’s Emma Erler and Nate Bernitz share proven tips and solutions for supporting pollinators on your property. This conversation is very practical, and gets into the kind of detail and nuance gardeners are looking for to go beyond basic concepts. Emma and Nate also cover a wide range of topics, discussing bees and what differentiates them from other insects, and different types of bees including but not at all limited to honeybees. You’ll definitely walk away from this episode with ideas you can put to practice.

· Featured Plant: Cosmos (Cosmos bipinnatus)

Resources:

· Pollinator Week

· Pollinator Plants for Northern New England Gardens

· Establishing a Wildflower Meadow from Seed

· Other UNH Extension resources for creating pollinator habitat

· Protecting Pollinators While Using Pesticides

· Bee Nest Box Guidelines

· Building a Bee Hotel

· Bees and their habitats in four New England states

Connect with us at @askunhextension on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to the monthly Granite State Gardening newsletter.

Email us questions, suggestions and feedback at [email protected]

Cover image by - Robert Durant

Transcript by Otter.ai

· Featured Plant: Cosmos (Cosmos bipinnatus)

Resources:

· Pollinator Week

· Pollinator Plants for Northern New England Gardens

· Establishing a Wildflower Meadow from Seed

· Other UNH Extension resources for creating pollinator habitat

· Protecting Pollinators While Using Pesticides

· Bee Nest Box Guidelines

· Building a Bee Hotel

· Bees and their habitats in four New England states

Connect with us at @askunhextension on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to the monthly Granite State Gardening newsletter.

Email us questions, suggestions and feedback at [email protected]

Cover image by - Robert Durant

Transcript by Otter.ai

Previous Episode

Managing Insect Pests in the Vegetable Garden, Ground Cherries and Choosing Your Battles

While insects are a part of every garden, and an important part at that, there are some insects that cause unacceptable damage to our plants and need to be managed as pests. In this episode of Granite State Gardening, UNH Extension’s Emma Erler and Nate Bernitz are joined by Anna Wallingford, host of the Overinformed on IPM podcast, to share proven tips and solutions for managing these insect pests with an integrated pest management approach. Anna has an uncanny ability to make pest management fun, and while she focuses on advising farmers, recording this episode was a unique opportunity to bring her expertise to gardeners. Anna shares unexpectedly interesting information about the lives these insects lead, and how understanding their life cycles and peculiarities can give gardeners a leg up in battling these garden foes.

· Featured Plant: Ground Cherries (Physalis pruinosa)

· Closing Tip: Choosing your battles with pests in the garden

Resources:

· Over-informed on IPM podcast

· Garden Irrigation Webinar

· Garden IPM

· IPM Resources for NH Growers

· Growing Ground Cherries and Tomatillos

Connect with us at @askunhextension on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to the monthly Granite State Gardening newsletter.

Email us questions, suggestions and feedback at [email protected]

Transcript by Otter.ai

Next Episode

Growing in Tough Spots and Situations

All gardeners and home owners face challenging conditions and tough situations that require careful plant selection and a thoughtful approach to bring their landscaping vision to life. In this episode of Granite State Gardening, UNH Extension’s Emma Erler and Nate Bernitz share proven tips and solutions for growing in many of those locations, including dry spots, wet spots, slopes, shade, compaction, foundations, driveways and even contaminated soils. Hopefully you don’t have all of these issues, but undoubtedly your property has some.

· Featured Plant: Sweet-fern (Comptonia peregrina)

Resources:

· What perennial groundcover can I plant on a sunny slope that is difficult to mow?

· What can weeds tell me about my garden soil?

Attributions:

Cover Art:

Sweet Fern - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Comptonia-peregrina-foliage.jpg

Sten Porse, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Connect with us at @askunhextension on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to the monthly Granite State Gardening newsletter.

Email us questions, suggestions and feedback at [email protected]

Transcript by Otter.ai

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