Gardening for Pollinators

Pollinators may occasionally seem to be a bother, but please try to enjoy them and work with them--your plants (and our food crops) need them!

Pollinators come in all shapes and sizes.  The first pollinators that likely come to mind are bees. While they are great pollinators, they aren’t the only ones moving pollen around.  Other big contributors include: bats, hummingbirds, butterflies, and moths. 

Let's talk a second about what pollination is and how pollinators are moving the pollen around.

Pollination is simply the movement of pollen grains from a flower’s male part (the anther) to its female part (the stigma).  Most plants (over 75%!) depend on their relationship with pollinators to move pollen in order to make seeds and reproduce.  Since plants are the basis of most food chains, these relationships between plants and their pollinators are crucial for many life forms.  Even agriculture depends on pollinators.

The plant however, is not the only one benefiting from this relationship.  Plants produce nectar to attract pollinators which provides important nutrients and energy to pollinators.  While the pollinators are busy moving from flower to flower drinking up the plant's nectar, they are also bumping and shaking the pollen around and end up transporting pollen from flower to flower.  This is a great example of mutualism between plants and animals, a relationship where both organisms benefit.  Pollination that occurs between different plant species can create more genetic diversity and, thus can help plants to become more resistant to environmental pressures.

Native plants are critical to these pollinators! 

Planting native plants is always a good idea, but when it comes to gardening for pollinators, it is absolutely critical. Pollinators prefer native plants even though they will gather nectar from other plants as well. Native plants evolved to be pollinated by local pollinators and thrive through this relationship. In fact, many insect pollinators (like the monarch) are entirely reliant upon 1 specific host plant (milkweed, in their case).  If that specific plant is not available, the species will not survive.  This guide to "Selecting Plants for Pollinators," is a great place to find what plants are right for you: http://pollinator.org/PDFs/OuterCoastal.rx5.pdf. For instance, beetles prefer dull white or green, large bowl-like flowers that emit a fruity scent. Examples include the Pawpaw and the Magnolia.

Plants placed in large bunches rather than small clusters are more likely to attract a pollinator's eye. Also make sure to incorporate a good variety of plants, including ones that bloom at different times so as to encourage the greatest diversity of pollinators to visit your yard throughout the season. 

Another great resource for pollinator information can be found here:

http://www.fws.gov/pollinators/pdfs/PollinatorBookletFinalrevWeb.pdf

    Compiled by Clint Boaz, Intern; Edited by Trista Imrich, Pearl Homes Coordinator, LRNow

Diamondback Terrapins

Diamondback Terrapins are one of our favorite river critters! Named for the diamond-shaped growth rings on their top shell, they are the only U.S. turtles that only inhabit brackish water, like estuaries, tidal creeks, and salt marshes. These guys and gals are homebodies, spending most of their life in one area, and staying close to shore, with no long-distance migrations. These guys eat fish, snails, worms, clams, crabs and marsh plants. They hibernate during the winter by burrowing into the marsh mud, and they nest on sandy beaches. The terrapin's mating season is May through July (now!), and after a 60 day gestation period, they lay their clutch of around 8-12 eggs. Hatchlings emerge from August to October, and the egg remains can be seen across the beach at PHP throughout the late summer and fall. Here's a pic of a freshly hatched little one!

As their habitat quality and quantity decreases, their numbers do as well, and they are considered to be a "federal species of concern." Pleasure House Point (PHP) provides wonderful habitat to these turtles, making its continued care and enhancement even more significant.

Lynnhaven River Now is happy to be working with the Virginia Beach Parks and Recreation Department on way to protect the diamondback terrapin's nesting habit from human and pet traffic at PHP. We have created a Google map, where anyone can leave the location, date, time and details of a terrapin sighting. If you're out walking at PHP and see a Diamondback Terrapin or even an abandoned nest or eggs, add your sighting to the map here by:

• Signing in to your Google account
• Clicking on the red "Edit" button on the left side of the screen
• Selecting the balloon shaped symbol from the upper left corner
• Placing it on the map at the approximate location of your sighting

The more information you can give in the description box, the better!

Please remember when you are out in our city, state, and federal parks (or anywhere), that although these turtles might be awfully cute, these are wild animals, not pets! Terrapins have a special ecosystem that they require to be happy and healthy, and they are happiest left in the wild where they belong.

More Terrapin resources:

Chesapeake Bay Program

Diamondback Terrapin Working Group

The Wetlands Institute

Virginia Institute of Marine Science

Let's Get to Composting!

Compost is organic material that can be used to amend soil in order to help plants grow.  Through combining some of the organic waste you produce at home, and allowing it to break down over time, you can create your own compost.

Why should you start composting? 

You can use the compost you produce to supply a garden with a (free!) slow-release fertilzer, supplying essential nutrients (C,H,O,P,K,N,S,Ca,Fe,Mg,B,Mn,Cu,Zn,Mo,Ni,Cl) and eliminate the need to buy and use chemical fertilizer.

The compost you put down will encourage beneficial fungus and bacteria production.  These microorganisms will help to break down organic material and produce humus (a nutrient-rich material).  This positive feedback within the soil will make sure to keep your plants happy and healthy.

As an additional benefit, the earthy compost dirt will help your garden better retain water, meaning less watering for you.  Spreading compost in sandy soil may also help water move laterally within the compost, ensuring your plants will get some water before it runs off or percolates down. When starting a new garden, it is best to spread 3-4" over the garden area, and then til or rake the compost into the top 6" of soil matter.    

Best of all, composting will help you seriously reduce the amount of waste your household produces.  According to the EPA, compostable organic waste makes up 20-30% of what we throw away.  Less waste means less methane emissions from landfills, and a smaller carbon footprint for you.

So...what can you compost?

Compost is basically separated into two different categories--brown and green, or carbon and nitrogen:

     Greens: 

Food Scraps, Grass Clippings, Garden Clippings, Coffee Grounds

Green materials

These are the composts source of Nitrogen, other nutrients, and moisture

Browns:

Brown Leaves, Wood Chips, 
Straw, Saw Dust, Pine Needles, Newspaper, Shredded paper, Egg carton, Pet Hair, dryer lint, vacuum dirt

Brown Materials

These are the composts source of Carbon, energy, and also help absorb moisture.  They also provide structural support to a pile compost, and allow air to better flow through the pile

Ideal composting is basically a nitrification cycle taking place inside your "bin." Ideally, your carbon to nitrogen ration should be roughly 3:1 or at least 2:1. Sometimes this can be difficult to achieve, but chances are, no matter what, your stuff is going to break down over time, regardless of whether you have put together the optimal blend of carbon and nitrogen.

*** Do not ever compost any type of animal product or animal waste, citrus, ***            chemicals (herbicides, pesticides)

Now that you know what a great idea composting is, I am sure you are wondering:  how can I start my own composting project at home?

There are a lot of different ways to compost at home. Two of the most popular and easy to maintain are on the ground units, and rotating drum units

On the ground units are commonly made of wood and fairly easy to build.  The compost sits directly on the ground and decomposers from the soil below aid in decomposition.  With an on the ground composting unit, it is important to add your green material, and cover it with brown material.  The pile may also be stirred in order to aerate the compost and speed the decomposition. 

Rolling drum units can be bought from a number of retailers, or made if you have the materials and the know how.  These units are up, off the ground on either a stand or base.  They are designed to be rolled, and aerated easily.  In order to get the best results from this unit, continue to add material until the drum is full, and allow the entire drum to decompose before removing any compost.

You could also use a combination of containers--ex. tumbler to get your compost started quickly, then transfer it to a ground unit to finish once the tumbler is full, so that you can continue adding to the tumbler.

More information on composting at home can be found at: http://www2.epa.gov/recycle/composting-home
or
http://letseat.whro.org/on-your-plate/208-composting-matter-matters

    Compiled by Clint Boaz, Intern; Edited by Trista Imrich, Pearl Homes Coordinator, LRNow