5 ways you can be a good garden neighbor

Tending to your own lawn or garden is a rewarding way to bring some of nature’s beauty into your own backyard — but the impact of a healthy garden can go far beyond growing a few flowers, fruits or vegetables for yourself to enjoy.

Your garden, no matter how big or small, is a part of the wider ecosystem of your community. The choices you make as a gardener can help plants and soil thrive, create healthy habitat for wildlife, save resources, and more. 

And when we urge our friends and neighbors to do the same, together we can have an enormous impact on the health of our environment.

Here are 5 ways you can improve your garden to be a good neighbor to pollinators and help your local ecosystem thrive:

1. Go pesticide free 

One great way to support bees, birds and other neighborhood wildlife is to eliminate the use of pesticides in your garden. You may spray a pesticide to target a particular pest – but once the chemicals are in your garden, they can harm beneficial species too. 

If you cut pesticides out of your garden, nature can often help do the pest control for you! Avoiding toxic chemicals means the predators of common pest species can thrive, keeping the pest population under control.

2. Plant native plants

The best plants to choose for your garden are those native to your region.

Choosing native plants can help make your job as a gardener easier! Plants native to your area are primed to thrive under your local growing conditions. They’re unlikely to need lots of excess watering since your local habitat can provide much of what they need, reducing your water use. 

Native plants support native wildlife, too. Many species of pollinators are specialists that have relationships with very specific types of flowers. When you plant a mix of native plants that bloom at different times, at different heights, and in different colors, you can provide food and shelter to native pollinating species all growing season long.

The USDA provides a search tool that can help you discover the names of plant species native to your state or county.

3. Share your bounty, from seeds to harvest

Your garden can do a lot of good on its own – but it’s even better when lots of gardeners and homeowners choose to grow native produce without pesticides. Healthy gardens spread across a community act like island refuges for wildlife traversing the seas of heavily developed areas. 

Local seed and produce swaps can help you get your hands on heirloom and native plants to grow in your own garden – or allow you to share your own with others who are trying to get started! These events build community, help gardeners share tips and resources, and ultimately encourage even more people to swap to organic planting.

Look for an event in your area, or coordinate with your neighbors to organize one yourself!

4. Share your knowledge

A little awareness can go a long way. Talking to your neighbors about sustainable gardening is great, but even something as simple as a lawn sign can help educate your community.

Our garden kits come with sturdy aluminum signs to label your garden as pollinator-friendly, so anyone walking by has the opportunity to get curious about the benefits of pollinator friendly gardening! The kits also come with even more gardening tips inside, so you’ll be well prepared to share ideas with anyone who wants to learn more about being a better neighbor to bees and other pollinators.

Feel free to share this story with your gardening group or friends, too. Sharing knowledge is how a community can learn and grow together!

5. Take action to help save bees and support pollinator-friendly farm practices

By using these tips, your garden can become an oasis of healthy habitat for pollinators in your neighborhood. But to truly save the bees, butterflies, and other helpful insects, we need to provide them with even more safe places to live and thrive. 

Despite their tiny size, many species of bees roam more than a kilometer away from their home in search of food — and sometimes much farther than that! That’s why small-scale gardeners and large-scale farmers both have a part to play in creating healthy pollinator habitat. 

If a farmer in your area is planting neonic-coated seeds, those bee-killing pesticides may be impacting the bees in your backyard even if you don’t use pesticides yourself.