by Connie Oswald Stofko
Pollinator Week is all about spreading awareness of the butterflies, bats, birds and bees that are essential to plant reproduction.
Find out how you can help protect pollinators.
Pollinator video
Provide a place for pollinators by making your backyard a better habitat for plants, insects and birds. Watch the video Green Your Backyard from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). It gives great tips you can use whether you have a large suburban yard or just a few pots on a balcony.
Read these previous articles for more on pollinators:
More ideas for protecting pollinators
- Tips on gardening for pollinators
- Identify and help native bees in your garden
- Support fireflies, plus 4 more reasons to get rid of some of your lawn
- Bats: spooky creatures or garden helpers?
What New York State is doing
New York State has a plan, the 2020 New York State Pollinator Protection Plan, to help pollinators.
Here are some of the things one state department, the Department of Transportation (DOT), is doing.
- When it comes to mowing the right-of-way, how much of the area needs to be mowed depends on safety needs. However, it’s rare that the entire width needs to be mowed, so the DOT is reducing or altering mowing to avoid disruptions to pollinator life cycles.
- In restoration and habitat enhancement projects, the DOT prioritizes native species, increasing the use of native grasses and testing custom native seed mixes.
- They use not only herbaceous plants, but also shrubs and trees, too. The department factors in when the trees and shrubs will bloom, with the goal of providing a continuous food source for pollinators.
Hi Tom, maybe you could contact the count and explain that leaving that area alone, they can help the environment and save some work! Maybe the county has an environmental committee. If so, it’s probably best to start with them.
Thanks for the info, Niagara county cleans the ditch across the street from us, I am thankful, but they reach way over the ditch and cut down the milkweed and teasles that grow on the other side. Not sure that’s necessary. We have let a lot of our gardens and lawn return to nature. Close to our home and garden is neat, but trying to be more nature friendly and neighborly freindly! Open on open gardens, Fridays 10-4 pm in July.