This semester, I am taking two online courses through Miami University: Issues in Biodiversity and Biology in the Age of Technology. One of our assignments in Issues in Biodiversity is to choose a lifestyle change that will impact your environment and have a positive effect on biodiversity.
Taking full advantage of my new, enormous backyard I have decided to plant a pollinator garden. Even in my tiny Brooklyn backyard I grew vegetables, so giving the pollinators an extra boost now that I have more space seemed like a no brainer.
Big, empty (for now), backyard!
Bees are in decline across America for two main reasons: habitat loss and pesticides (USFWS). The construction of roads and new housing developments causes habitat loss and fragmentation which means less space for bees to do their bee thing. The least I can do is create a little oasis for them in my backyard.
Conveniently, my backyard comes with these built-in brick planters. They gave me even more space to plant, and when out purchasing seeds, I couldn’t resist a couple of extra desert plants that will also attract pollinators:
Built in planters.
My birthday happens to come around the beginning of the planning season in New Mexico so my parents sent me some garden beds I put together over the weekend:
As you can see by the last picture, I vastly underestimated how much soil I was going to need, so this became a two day project.
After I had all the dirt I needed, I planted the seeds – one side is a mix of perennial and annual wildflowers indigenous to New Mexico and the other half are some veggies I plan on eating throughout the summer. They will only be happier having pollinators living right next store!
After the seeds were in, it was time to water:
I’ll let you know when my first seeds start sprouting!
thesusantorres 