The Importance of Pollinator-Friendly Gardens in Urban Areas

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By Teri Silver

Cities and suburbs have their charms, but what they don’t have is an abundance of butterflies. It’s important to have pollinator-friendly gardens in urban areas, not only to propagate colorful flowers, but to keep the cycle of life intact. Milkweed plants may seem like raggy stems growing to make allergy sufferers miserable, but they are primary attractions for butterflies, pollinating insects, and birds.

Pollination 101

Butterflies, bees, birds, bats, and insects deliver grains of pollen from flower to flower. When the pollen transfers from the male anther to the female stigma, the flower or plant is ready to produce a new generation.

Pollen also travels to flower heads in other ways –– water and wind, for example. Animals bring pollen to greenery when they rub against flower and plant heads. Greenery may be cross-pollinating or self-pollinating.

Happy Gardens

Whether you prefer flowers, vegetables, fruits, herbs, or a mixture of everything, gardens won’t thrive without pollinating birds and insects. Pollinators are important for your garden, even if you’re placing “starter” plants in the ground (instead of direct seeding). Pollinator gardens and veggie greenery provide a safe place to rest for butterflies, bees, birds, and moths. Gardens keep the pollinators in the area. Starting a community garden is one way to promote pollination in your urban neighborhood.

Declining Monarch Population  

Monarch butterflies are big time pollinators, but the number of monarch butterflies throughout the United States is on the decline. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service says monarch butterflies, with their symmetrical orange-yellow and black wings, are losing their habitats due to changes in grasslands, breeding, migratory routes, urban developments, and chemical weed killers and insecticides. Drought, climate change, unsustainable forestry, and overwintering habitat loss are also serious factors.   

Need for Milkweed

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Monarch butterflies love milkweed — in fact, a world without milkweed means NO monarch butterflies. Milkweed is the host plant for monarch caterpillars. Native milkweed (instead of tropical varieties sold by plant nurseries) discourages butterflies from laying eggs outside their normal breeding season, thus, they’ll be more likely to survive. Milkweed also draws other pollinators like birds and bees.       

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has given a major grant to the Santa Monica Mountains Fund (native plant nursery in Rancho Sierra Vista Newbury Park) to promote the planting and growth of milkweed. Community, homeowner, and school gardens in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, along with 150 acres near the nursery in the Santa Monica mountains, are teeming with milkweed and other butterfly-drawing wild plant species.

Pollinator Threats

Disappearing habitats, pesticides, preying insects, climate change, disease, pathogens, and pollution are a few of the threats to pollinator populations. Honeybees are at a very big risk, according to the Bee Conservancy. With roughly 4,000 native bee species in North America, more than half are in decline, with 25 percent at risk of extinction.  

Urban Habitats

Living in the city or suburbs can be a challenge for drawing pollinators but it’s not impossible — we can all do our part.

Don’t go overboard with weeding and herbicides. Dandelions, clover, those little purple flowers, and other grass blades are full of nectar. If you don’t want to turn the entire yard into a giant, weedy pollinator garden, consider letting a small patch of your yard grow naturally to attract pollinators.

Plant colorful native flowers, whether in a ground garden or container pots. Although in-ground rain gardens are a challenge in the California climate, you can create artificial ones with collected rainwater.  

Place pans of water near flowers and plants for the pollinators to drink from — pie tins work great because they have edges for landing and standing. Bird baths, feeders, and fountains are a draw for flying pollinators that get thirsty while visiting each flower.  

Pollinator-friendly gardens in cities and suburbs help keep nature in balance. And that’s a good thing, because we all like to eat. Nearly a third of our food comes from garden and farmers’ crops — nuts, vegetables, fruits, and products that are plant-originated. Personal and community gardens feed people and the pollinators that depend on them.   

Teri Silver is a journalist and outdoor enthusiast. She and her husband live on 5 acres with a vast lawn, three gardens, a farm, a pond, many trees, and a lot of yard work! The best parts of the year are summer and fall when home-grown veggies are on the dinner table.