Ben Hunter ‘ 27
In a world transformed by human-caused climate change, pollinator populations are declining largely due to pesticide poisoning and habitat loss. This is important because pollination, “the process of moving pollen from one flower to another of the same species,” is necessary for fertilizing almost all flowering plants (Reel, 2018).
Therefore, when pollinators suffer, plants and other organisms also suffer because pollination provides a wide array of ecosystem services from crop growth to plant reproduction. For example, pollinators are necessary for 85 percent of flowering-plant reproduction and 25 percent of bird and mammal diets (NYC Parks, 2020). Thus, a decline in pollinator populations will result in a decline of plant reproduction and negatively impact organisms’ diets, which is a major concern for biodiversity and associated ecosystem services (Ramos-Jiliberto, 2020). Humans will also feel the effects of a decrease in pollinator populations on our food supply. In economic terms alone, pollinators contribute over $24 billion to the United States economy annually (Obama administration, 2014).
Furthermore, over 75 percent of crops used directly in human food are dependent on insect pollination, but the proportion of agricultural crops depending on pollinators is increasing much more rapidly than the number of pollinators. (Potts, 2010). Therefore, the decline in pollination rates will only become more problematic over time as the proportion of agricultural crops continues to increase at a faster rate than the number of pollinators.
Despite the concern in the scientific community and the drastic implications of pollinator population declines, the public is still largely uninformed. In fact, from 2007 to 2019, under 0.007 percent of newspaper stories referred to decreases in pollinator populations (Althaus, 2021). The negligence of pollinator population declines in newspapers and other forms of media suggest that the vast majority of people are unaware of the issue, so the efforts of those that are aware to educate and help pollinators is more important than they realize.
One way that people can help pollinators is through building pollinator gardens. Pollinator gardens, simply, are gardens that are predominantly filled with plants designed to attract pollinators like butterflies, bees, or even moths. Reminiscent of the Victory Gardens from World War I and II that provided food for soldiers in order to win the war, one function of pollinator gardens is to provide food and security for pollinators so that they can win their own “war” against habitat loss and pesticides (Mitchell, 2022). Pollinator gardens are flexible, cost effective, and educational forms of combatting pollinator population declines (Hahn, 2012). Even in urban areas such as New York City, gardens can have an abundance of pollinator types comparable to rural areas (Daniels, 2020).
Therefore, it is important to build a pollinator garden in an urban area like NYC that has the geographical and economic resources to build and maintain one. Additionally, a pollinator garden planted in NYC could also be a tangible lesson and reminder used to educate New Yorkers about the importance of pollinators and their declining numbers in a meaningful and memorable way.
When designing the pollinator garden below, I wanted to ensure that my garden would be able to survive, thrive, and attract an array of pollinators. Therefore, I decided to use only plants native to the Northeastern United States. Native plants are beneficial to a pollinator garden because native plants have evolved with native pollinators, which means that in addition to being best suited for the environment, they are best suited to each other (Gonick, 2020). Additionally, I also wanted to plant a diverse array of crops because a varied diet keeps
pollinators healthy, reduces pest problems, provides bloom time throughout the season, and attracts many different types of pollinators (Majewska, 2018). Finally, I wanted to plan a garden that did not require constant attention and could be realistically implemented in NYC.
Target Pollinators
● Bees: There are over 200 species of bees in New York City that account for nearly 70% of visits to flowers in New York City parks and residential neighborhoods. Bees are also capable of pollinating a wide variety of plants (NYC Parks, 2020). Therefore, I wanted to attract various different bee species due to their importance and to New York City pollination.
○ Bumble bees (Bombus)
■ Pros:
● Pollinates from April through September.
● Employ “buzz pollination” (can be more effective than how
honeybees pollinate).
● Often mild mannered.
● Can fly in lower temperatures and low light levels.
● Queen bumble bees begin pollinating early in the season.
■ Cons:
● They are large and can sting.
● Most bumble bees die when starting a colony.
○ Sweat bees (Halictidae)
■ Pros:
● Pollinates from April through September (most active from May
through July).
● All females can lay eggs (not reliant on queen).
● Very attracted to allium and aster plants, which are both in my
garden.
■ Cons:
● Attracted to sweat on humans so land on humans to drink their
sweat, which could scare people.
○ Leafcutting bees (Megachile)
■ Pros:
● Pollinates from April through October.
● Not defensive to rarely sting.
● Do not damage crops.
● Very attracted to sunflowers and asters, which are both in my
garden.
■ Cons:
● Make cuts in leaves (decreases aesthetic value).
● Have many parasitic predators.
○ Honeybees (Apidae)
■ Pros:
● Pollinates from May through July.
● Pollinate over 100 crops and other flowers in North America.
● Annually contribute over $15 billion to the United States economy. ● Can visit over 2,000 flowers in a day.
■ Cons:
● They can sting.
● Butterflies: Butterflies are less efficient pollinators than bees and they visit flowers less in New York City (NYC Parks, 2020). However, they still have substantial pollination value and are more aesthetically pleasing than many other pollinators, so they are valuable for pollination and increasing public support for pollinators.
○ Spring Azure (Celastrina ladon)
■ Pros:
● Pollinates from March through July (first butterfly to emerge in
spring).
● Common in New York City.
● Well adapted to cold.
● Aesthetically pleasing.
■ Cons:
● Short lifecycle.
● Has many predators.
○ Black Swallowtail Butterfly (Papilio polyxenes)
■ Pros:
● Pollinates from May through August.
● Aesthetically pleasing.
● Can live in a variety of habitats.
■ Cons:
● Prey of some soldier insects.
○ Columbine Duskywing (Erynnis lucilius)
■ Pros:
● Pollinates from April through September.
● Do well with columbine.
■ Cons:
● Less common butterfly.
● Not as aesthetically pleasing as other butterflies.
● Flies: Flies, contrary to popular belief, do not only annoy people, but are also the second-most important pollinators of New York City and responsible for one-third of the world’s pollination services (NYC Parks, 2020). While adult flies pollinate, many of their larvae are important contributors to reducing aphid populations (Dunn, 2020). This is important because aphids are pests that can cause major plant damage and are able to adapt quickly (Simon, 2018). Therefore, flies, especially the syrphid fly, would both pollinate the plants and reduce aphid populations which are both important to the success of a pollinator garden.
○ Syrphid Flies (Eupeodes americanus)
■ Pros:
● Pollinates from April through November.
● Effective pollinators of many plants, especially goldenrod.
● Very abundant in New York City.
● Larvae can reduce aphid populations from 70 percent to 100
percent.
■ Cons:
● Visually unappealing.
● Spread bacteria easily.
● Beetles: While beetle pollination in New York is not as common as pollination by other insects, beetles are incredibly abundant and constitute about 40 percent of all known insect species (NYC Parks, 2020). Some beetles are specialist pollinators, but many are generalist pollinators, leading beetles to visit nearly 90 percent of the world’s flowering plants (Hooks, 2020). Beetles, due to their pollination of a wide variety of plants and abundance, make for reliable and effective pollinators.
○ Goldenrod Soldier Beetle (Chauliognathus Pensylcanicus)
■ Pros:
● Pollinates from August through September.
● Do not do long term damage to plants.
● Do not bite or sting.
● Attracted to goldenrods and other plants.
● Larvae eats aphids.
■ Cons:
● Rough and clumsy fliers.
● Larvae also eat other insects like caterpillars.
● Visually unappealing.
● Hummingbirds: A slightly less conventional pollinator is the hummingbird. While there are many different species of hummingbird, the only one that frequents New York City during the blooming season is the ruby-throated hummingbird. Hummingbirds are important pollinators because they can carry pollen over large distances and essentially link plant populations. Providing safe spaces, such as pollinator gardens, for hummingbirds to rest and feed at is also helpful for hummingbirds along their migratory routes (Giunta, 2021). Especially as summer begins to end, gardens become increasingly important in areas such as New York City in order to help hummingbirds gain enough energy to finish their migratory journey (Taft, 2015).
○ Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris)
■ Pros:
● Pollinates from March through October.
● Most common hummingbird in New York City and has an
estimated population of over 7 million individuals.
● Its pollination efficiency is comparable to that of a honeybee.
● Aesthetically pleasing and popular to the public (draws attention to the need to help pollinators and increases public support).
■ Cons:
● The males are territorial.
● Eats insects (including some pollinators).
● Is prey for many larger birds.
Pollinator Garden (each grid represents a square foot of spacing)
Chosen Plants
Wild Geranium (Geranium maculatum)
● April, May, June, and July bloom.
● A perennial.
● Medium or medium-dry soil moisture.
● Grows to about a foot tall.
● Purple bloom.
● Needs about 1 foot spacing.
● Can be in shade, full sun, or partial sun.
● Pros:
○ One of the most popular plants for many kinds of pollinators, so I chose to place them near the center of my garden interchangeably with the nodding onion so that they would be protected and because they attract many of the pollinators that nodding onion would otherwise deter. I also placed ten of them due to their popularity among pollinators, but I limited the number to ten so that my garden would not be too reliant on wild geraniums.
○ Has a long blooming season from April through July.
○ Can exist in many sunlight circumstances.
○ Takes about 13-15 weeks to bloom after planting
○ Attracts bees, butterflies (especially small butterflies and skippers like the Columbine duskywing that my garden targets), wasps, moths, beetles and various birds. Also deer resistant.
● Cons:
○ It reproduces in such a way that care is needed to prevent its overgrowth, which influenced me to limit the amount of them that I plant to ten.
Nodding Onion (Allium cernuum)
● June, July and August bloom.
● A perennial.
● Medium-wet, medium, or medium-dry soil moisture.
● Grows to between 1 and 2 feet tall.
● Purple bloom.
● Needs about half a foot of spacing.
● Can be in partial sun or full sun.
● Pros:
○ Its petals face downward, so it gives bees pollination priority. This was also one of the primary reasons I chose to place nodding onions in the center of my garden because bees are the most important pollinators of my garden and I wanted to place plants that would ensure a thriving bee population in my garden. I also only placed six nodding onions because the plant mostly attracts bees and I did not want to make my garden primarily a bee pollinator garden.
○ Attracts bees, butterflies, wasps, moths, and beetles. Also deer resistant. ○ The plant’s downward facing petals protect its nectar.
○ It is visually appealing.
● Cons:
○ Some insects other than bees may not be attracted to the nodding onion. ○ Potentially aggressive because it self-seeds, so while it was important to plant enough nodding onions for a bee population to thrive, it was also important to reduce the number of nodding onions I planted to reduce the chance of nodding onions becoming aggressive in my garden. I also placed them in an area that was relatively isolated from other plants except for wild geranium in order to further reduce the negative effect that nodding onion would have if it became aggressive.
Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis)
● April, May, June, and July bloom.
● A perennial
● Medium to medium-dry soil moisture.
● Grows to about 2 feet tall.
● Red bloom.
● Needs between one and two feet of spacing.
● Can be in shade, full sun, or partial sun.
● Pros:
○ It is one of the first plants to provide nectar for hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies in the spring so I thought that it would be important to include
columbine in my garden for early pollinators.
○ It is the larval host of the Columbine Duskywing, which is one of my target butterflies.
○ It is visually appealing.
○ Attracts bees, butterflies, wasps, moths, beetles and various birds. Also deer resistant.
○ Tolerates many different sun and soil types, so I chose to place the columbine near some of the more medium sized plants near the outer area of my garden because they would be able to thrive there due to their versatility. I only placed four of them because it was important to plant columbine in my garden to attract pollinators, but they are also larger than some of the smaller plants like wild geranium so I did not want to plant too many of them as to take up too much space.
○ Drought, heat, and cold resistant.
● Cons:
○ From seed, they take 2-3 years to bloom
Illinois Rose (Rosa setigera)
● Blooms June and July.
● A perennial.
● Medium to medium dry soil moisture.
● Grows up to about 12 feet.
● Pink bloom.
● Needs 4-6 feet of spacing.
● Can be in full or partial sun.
● Pros:
○ Works as a living fence, which means that it forms a row in front of other plants to protect them. The Illinois rose’s function as a living fence made me feel as though it would be important to add to protect some of my smaller plants like wild geranium and nodding onion from the wind and other threats. I only planted two of them because two of them grow large enough to protect most of my smaller plants and they are space consuming.
○ They are dioecious, which means that they have male and female flowers on separate plants. This means that the Illinois rose cannot self-pollinate (But it still survives as well as non-dioecious plants), so they utilize methods such as insect pollination instead. So they need to attract insects to survive, which brings pollinators to the garden.
○ Attracts bees, butterflies, wasps, moths, and beetles.
● Cons:
○ Could potentially be aggressive and overwhelm smaller landscapes.
○ Takes up lots of space, so I only planted two of them.
Smooth Blue Aster (Symphyotrichum laeve)
● Blooms August, September, and October.
● A perennial
● Medium wet, medium, medium dry soil moisture.
● Grows up to 4 feet tall.
● Blue bloom.
● Needs between 1 and 2 feet spacing.
● Can be in full or partial sun.
● Pros:
○ Stands tall during its long late summer to mid fall bloom so that it is able to continue to receive sun without stooping into the shade of other plants.
○ Has a non-aggressive rhizomatous root system (Can survive underground without interfering with other plants) so it is adaptable and tough, so I thought that it would be important to add to my garden as a plant that attracts many pollinators, but also can survive some of the harsher weather in New York City. I also planted them near the outside of my garden because they are tall and their durability would allow them to survive without the protection granted from being near the center of the garden. I only planted four of them because they are large plants and I did not want to take up too much space with them.
○ Attracts bees, butterflies, wasps, moths, beetles and various birds.
○ Aesthetically pleasing.
○ Doesn’t require much maintenance.
● Cons:
○ Either very wet or very dry soil kills smooth blue asters.
Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa)
● July, August, and September bloom.
● A perennial.
● Medium wet, medium, medium dry, or dry soil moisture.
● Grows up to 4 feet.
● Purple bloom.
● Needs between 2 to 3 feet of spacing.
● Can be in full or partial sun.
● Pros:
○ Very plantable: can be planted in spring on bare soil without overwintering and does not need stratification.
○ Attracts bees, butterflies, wasps, moths, beetles and various birds. Also deer resistant.
○ Favorite of butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds.
○ Compliments yellow flowers, so I placed my wild bergamots near my showy goldenrods. I also only placed four of them due to their large size.
○ Aesthetically pleasing.
● Cons:
○ Dies in very wet soil, so I also placed them near my pagoda dogwood in order to provide them with some protection from the rain.
○ Can be aggressive.
○ Can become dilapidated as the growing season progresses, especially under lots of rain.
Western Sunflower (Helianthus occidentalis)
● July, August, September bloom.
● A perennial.
● Medium, Medium dry, or dry soil moisture.
● Grows up to 3 feet tall.
● Yellow bloom.
● Needs about a foot of spacing
● Full or partial sun exposure
● Pros:
○ Very attractive for bees, flies, and butterflies and provides food for birds, which is why I chose to plant them despite their risk of repressing other plants’ growth. ○ Less aggressive than many other sunflower species.
○ Keeps down bad weeds with alleopathic chemical.
○ Helps with contaminated soil- detoxes heavy metals from soil.
○ Aesthetic value.
● Cons:
○ Sunflowers can be aggressive and repress other plant growth, so I only chose to plant four of them and plant them at the outside corners of my garden in order to reduce the risk of the sunflowers on my other plants while still benefiting from their valuable attraction to pollinators.
○ Can attract aphids.
○ Susceptible to wind.
○ Have to be torn down in the fall.
Showy Goldenrod (Solidago speciosa)
● September, October, November bloom.
● A perennial.
● Medium, Medium dry, or dry soil moisture.
● Grows up to 5 feet tall.
● Yellow bloom.
● Need two to three feet of spacing
● Full or partial sun exposure
● Pros:
○ Not aggressive.
○ Has a later bloom.
○ Has a fibrous root system.
○ Will not overwhelm small areas, so I placed the showy goldenrod between multiple plants. I also placed them near wild bergamots in order to benefit from wild bergamot’s complement of plants with a yellow bloom and to diversify the bloom colors of my garden. I only placed four of them because they are also large plants and they grow tall, so I did not want to take up too much space with them.
○ Aesthetically pleasing.
○ Attracts bees, wasps, moths, beetles, various birds, and especially butterflies. Also deer resistant.
● Cons:
○ Moist soils can make the showy goldenrod aggressive, so I placed my goldenrods near the pagoda dogwood in order to provide some protection from moist soil due to rain.
Pagoda Dogwood (Cornus alternifolia)
● May, June, July bloom.
● A perennial.
● Medium wet, medium, or medium dry soil moisture.
● Grows up to 25 feet tall.
● White bloom.
● Needs 6-12 feet of spacing
● Partial or shade sun exposure
● Pros:
○ Attracts bees, butterflies, wasps, moths, beetles and various birds. Also deer resistant. Especially attractive for spring azure butterflies, which are one of my target pollinators.
○ Provides berries that are important for wildlife in the fall and winter.
○ Aesthetically pleasing.
○ Increases carbon sequestration.
○ Generally pest free and disease resistant.
○ Does not require pruning.
○ Provides shade and some rain protection, so I placed the pagoda dogwood in the middle of my garden so that the largest possible number of other plants could benefit from its natural protection. I also only placed one of them because I could only fit one of them in my garden.
○ With ample water the tree can thrive in warmer temperatures.
● Cons:
○ Difficult to grow – takes care from gardeners to thrive.
○ Bad for the plant to overheat – especially in summer, but adding mulch keeps the soil cooler which helps to prevent overheating.
○ Best when in direct sunlight for only part of the day.
○ Wind and ice damage are problematic.
Pollination is one of the most important processes on Earth, even occurring in urban areas such as New York City. A pollinator garden in a city would provide a bastion for pollination and pollinators in the city from beetles to hummingbirds. The designed pollinator garden in this paper is such a bastion designed for an urban space like and utilizes various plants native to New York City to attract a variety of pollinators that are also native to New York City. A large and versatile range of plants were chosen that bloom throughout the growing season and bloom in different colors in order to attract many of New York City’s key pollinators such as bees, butterflies, and flies. Finally, in addition to a pollinator garden’s more tangible purposes, it also has a more educational purpose. While the designed garden has more conventional flowers meant to attract more conventional pollinators, the garden also utilizes less conventional plants and attracts less conventional pollinators (such as the pagoda dogwood and hummingbirds) in order to leave a lasting impression on the people that see it. In this way, the pollinator garden is designed to teach the NYC community a lesson about the importance and decline of pollinator populations and the effects of human-caused climate change. It will also inspire the members of the community to take their own actions against pollinator population declines and the negative effects of human-caused climate change.
Sources
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Image link: https://mwg.aaa.com/via/house-home/pollinator-garden