The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation offers advice on how to help pollinators during spring clean-up and beginning seasonal lawn maintenance.
While you may begin to see bumble bees and ground-nesting bees emerge as flowering trees and shrubs burst into bloom, they still need cover during chilly nights and heavy spring showers. While mining bees, mason bees, carpenter bees, and bumble bees may be out and about by early April, other species such as sweat bees are still hiding out, waiting for the warmer days that arrive in May.
Meanwhile, last year’s leaf litter is still providing protection for both plants and invertebrates against late-season frosts. And butterflies' chrysalides still cling to dried stems and twigs, waiting for the right time to emerge as adults.
If it’s time to plant tomatoes in your area, chances are conditions are neither too hot nor too cold for pollinators to be out and about.
To help pollinators the most, wait a little longer to mow. “No Mow May” is a movement to allow grass and wildflowers in lawns to grow unmown until after May, creating habitat and forage for early season pollinators when floral blooms can be less common. If you do mow before then, consider reducing intensity or frequency.
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