The Ontario Horticultural Association brings you
Roadsides and Pollinator Patches
Roadsides is a program that encourages you to create habitat for native bees and other pollinators along roadsides, on cloverleafs, on unused urban land and in your garden. The little habitats created by volunteers like you are called Pollinator Patches.
Photo: R. Colville
Our native bees need our help.
Just as we're about to turn to our native bees for pollination needs because of the problems with European Honey bees, we find that our native bees may be in trouble, too. They have been pushed until their backs are against the wall by pesticide use, diseases and habitat loss.
Ta Da....
a very good video about the Plight of Bees-- A TED_Talk
You and I can improve the situation.
Roadsides is about pitching in and doing something for our native bees. By planting Pollinator Patches along our roads and in our unused land, we can provide spaces for our native pollinators to live and breed.
Now...one Pollinator Patch won't make a big difference, but just imagine if we planted hundreds and even thousands of patches across our province. What an impact we could make!
The first Pollinator Patch has been created. The next one should be yours.
Start with a patch about 3m and 6m (10 x20 feet) in an unused portion of land beside a road, in town, on a boulevard or even in your garden. Prepare it and plant it with bee-friendly plants. Provide nesting spots and give it minimum maintenance for a year or two. That's it!
For more information, see the Guide to Creating a Pollinator Patch here -- and begin your own pollinator patch this spring.
How Many Pollinator Patches?
Register your patch today at
roadsides (at) caroldunk.com
Planting one Pollinator Patch in Barrie, Ontario
Arranging pots of native plants for the first Pollinator Patch