Supporting Pollinators with Bee Lawns
Supporting Pollinators with Bee Lawns
– What, Why, Where, Which, When, and How
By Jo Swartz, Master Gardener
A bee lawn is the co-existence of turfgrasses and low growing flowers for the purpose of providing supplemental nutrition in the form of nectar (sugars) and pollen (protein) to pollinators, including bees, butterflies, and other types of pollinators. By including early flowering species in the lawn, bee lawns can serve as transition feeding areas for pollinators before the garden begins to flower. Ideally, bee lawns are environmentally friendly with less or no application of herbicides, pesticides, or fertilizer.
Why would one consider a bee lawn?
There are over 3,600 known bee species in North America, essential to our food chain, but many are endangered or threatened. The main reason is pollinator habitat loss. This is due to urban and suburban monocultures of lawns and crops of modern agricultural practice, which lack flowers, with a resultant decline in pollinator species. Traditionally, lawns are admired as manicured weed-free swathes of green monoculture. Such lawns make up 2% of continental USA and are its #1 irrigated crop. Use of pesticides and insecticides, diseases, and parasites further contribute to pollinator loss. Similar information is not available for Canada but according to the David Suzuki Foundation, “In Canada there are about 6.2 million lawns. Converting just one-quarter of each would equal around 14,400 hectares of pollinator habitat.”
Lawns serve as multi-functional spaces for relaxation and recreation, but bee lawns also act as nutrient providers. They can occupy as much or little of the lawn space as the lawn owner desires and can be located away from heavily used recreational spaces. They are becoming popular in public parks as well as at home. A bee lawn does not imply a weedy, no-maintenance lawn.
Which grasses are recommended?
A mix of fine fescues, cool season grasses, are recommended for our climate. There are several advantages to the fine fescues: they require less irrigation, being drought-tolerant; require less fertilizer and weed control; and they are compatible with flowering plants. A disadvantage is they do not tolerate heavy foot traffic as might occur in a sports field. This disadvantage may be mitigated by including Kentucky Blue grass in the mix. Despite its higher maintenance requirements, such as the need for fertilizer, it tolerates heavy foot traffic and is compatible with bee lawn flowers. These grass seeds may be purchased at local home and garden stores.
As an aside, Low Mow May may be more pollinator and lawn friendly than No Mow May. Research from the University of Minnesota has found that if one mows the lawn once in May, the grasses are not as tall and therefore the flowers are easier for pollinators to locate. No Mow May may also result in grass being 10-12 inches high by the end of the month, a height unmanageable for many lawn mowers. If only one-third of the grass is cut off with each mowing, as is recommended for healthy grass, mowing the grass back to a five-to-six inch recommended height may take some time.
Which plants work well in a bee lawn?
Non-native honey bee in clover
Perennial plants that adapt to many soil types and are hardy and low-growing with a long bloom-time are recommended. Such plants should tolerate mowing and can re-flower, can withstand foot traffic, tolerate shade, and provide good quality pollen and nectar. Dutch white clover (Trifolium repens), ubiquitous although non-native, is such a plant. Clover also fixes nitrogen in the soil, thereby reducing the need for fertilizer. Research by the University of Minnesota Bee Lab has found 56 species of native bees feeding on Dutch white clover alone, the majority of which are non-stinging bees. Honey bees also frequent bee lawns. Several universities are finding similar numbers of pollinators on their test bee lawns.
Other non-native plants recommended include creeping thyme (Thymus serpyllum) and common dandelion (Taraxacum officinale). Of note, the quality of pollen and nectar obtained from the dandelion is not as rich as that of clover, but if it is available the pollinators will use it.
![Thymus serpyllum [Photo: Andreas Rockstein, flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0]](https://www.mgmanitoba.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/2023nl4-bee-lawn2.jpg)
Creeping thyme (Thymus serpyllum)
![Photo: Prunella vulgaris lanceolata [Willamette Biology, flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0]](https://www.mgmanitoba.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/2023nl4-bee-lawn3.jpg)
Self-heal (Prunella vulgaris lanceolata)
Two recommended native plants are northern blue violet (Viola sororia) and self-heal (Prunella vulgaris ssp lanceolata). Both of these plants have blue flowers which bees seem to prefer. Violets are however short-blooming, appearing early in April through to June. They tolerate both sun and shade and are also a host plant to fritillary butterflies. Self-heal is hardy to zone 3 and is mainly a nectar producer. The native subspecies lanceolata should not be confused with the Eurasian subspecies vulgaris. Self-heal seeds may be difficult to find in Manitoba but Canadian sources do exist. It has blue to purple tubular flowers, blooms June to August but can bloom as late October, and tolerates sun and part shade. Ground plum (Astragalus crassicarpus) is another plant that has been recommended for bee lawns but, again, seeds may be difficult to find.
Other considerations when planning a bee lawn
Include the condition of the proposed space: Is it usable? Does one need to start over (renovation) or can one seed flowers directly into existing lawn (overseed)? Consider renovation if the space is compacted or requires new top soil and grading, or consists of weeds unusable by pollinators.
Late fall may be the best time for sowing the flowers’ seeds, once the soil is too cold to permit germination. Fall planting allows over-wintering with no irrigation requirements, leading to germination in spring. On the other hand, if overseeding in spring is necessary, it is recommended to mow the lawn to a one-inch height, rake to remove clippings, and expose the soil. It may be easier to spread the seed mixed with sand, especially if the seeds are tiny. The new bee lawn will require watering, to a “damp sponge” quality, daily for about two weeks. Fertilizer may be added at this time. It is suggested to mow the top one-third of the grass when it reaches five-to-six inches every two-to-three weeks. The bee lawn may require two years to reach maturity.
Growing an urban bee lawn is an excellent transition to offer pollinators, providing them with an early and continuing source of nutrition even as spring gives way to the bounty of summer flowers.
The Xerxes Society for Invertebrate Conservation is a good resource to learn more about pollinators. Research and booklets are available on line from the University of Minnesota College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resources Sciences Bee Lab on Bee Lawns. Several resources are listed below.
Creative Commons Photo Licences:
Thymus serpyllum – Andreas Rockstein, flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0
Prunella vulgaris lanceolata – Willamette Biology, flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0
Further reading:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Z0gYscfX5UfrwgLpxlfeTEDfMFeBUSAI/view
http://www.xerces.org/pollinator-resource-center
https://www.xerces.org/publications/plant-lists/native-plants-for-pollinators-and-beneficial-insects-northern-plains
https://turf.umn.edu/news/if-you-build-it-who-will-come-evaluating-diversity-bees-flowering-lawns https://wildlifepreservation.ca/2016/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/No-Fear-of-Sting.pdf
https://gardenprofessors.com/bee-lawns-whats-all-the-buzz-about/
Join us on Saturday, July 15 from 9 am – 4 pm and be inspired by 11 beautiful gardens in the Fort Garry and Northern areas of Winnipeg. This self- guided garden tour, an extraordinary mix of small and large gardens, will give you the opportunity to be inspired by the creativity of garden owners and to learn more about evolving trends in gardening and garden design.
