Today kicks off National Pollinator Week, which was designated by the U.S. Senate 11 years ago to address the urgent issue of declining pollinator populations.

What can you do to take action?

You can start restoring native meadows where you live. Even if you don’t have a large yard, you can create a native meadow community right in your garden beds.

Friends of Animals participated in a guided walk through the native meadows at Grace Farms in New Canaan, Connecticut to learn more about the importance of nurturing meadows where pollinators like bees, butterflies and birds thrive. We were surrounded by foxglove beardtongue, butterfly weed, bee balm, sedges and spiderwort. Grace Farms is home to 80 bird species.
We learned there are more than 48 million acres of lawn in the U.S. Sadly these thirsty, pesticide-ridden, energy-consuming areas are biological deserts. In contrast, we could hear the incredible sounds of pollinators doing their thing in the native meadows.

“We don’t see it, but there’s so much going on around us here. It’s like we are hanging out in Times Square,” said Penn Marchael, project manager at Larry Weaner Associates, who ensures the meadows thrive at Grace Farms.

Get started now! You can:
● Hire a company like Larry Weaner Landscape Associates that offers native meadows in its portfolio.
● Do it yourself by picking up a copy of the book and companion video Urban and Suburban Meadows, which provide step-by-step instructions, plant lists and other resources for meadow-making.
● Visit www.themeadowproject.com to find seed companies and nurseries that provide native, pollinator/wildlife friendly plants in your particular state.
Stay tuned for more ways to protect pollinators throughout the week!