I struggled with how to frame this news. The impetus for this post came to me on the radio on the 20th of May, declared World Bee Day. Bees support us. How are we bee-ing a leader to support them? What do we associate Bees with? Busy-ness. My spouse and I have been busy as bees trying to make our yard as supportive of those little buzzers as possible. No pesticides! We put in hours of weeding, and mulching to build the soil and suppress the rest of the weeds.
Lawn Gone
The biggest change we made was to replace every bit of lawn left by previous owners. Some of it was shady and weedy. Other portions, decent enough for an expanse of green, required mowing. Initially we used an old fashioned reel mower pushed by hand. Then a friend gifted us an electric battery operated mower. He had already re-purposed his own lawn. Now both off those mowers have gone to other neighbors. They, too, have eschewed gas-guzzling, mega-droning noise-makers in favor of a quieter, less polluting workout.
The final expanse of lawn we transformed with the absolutely awesome support of the Snohomish Conservation District. They supplied the “worker bees” from a Veterans Conservation Crew team. They dug out a deep hole in a portion of the front lawn to create a rain garden. While they dug, we layered cardboard over the remaining grass. The crew then dumped the dirt from the hole over the overlapping sheets of cardboard. The next day, part of the hole was backfilled with a compost and sand mix designed to retain moisture. A thick layer of wood chip mulch was placed over the soil. Rocks cover inflow and outflow of the rain garden.
How Our Rain Garden Grows
Once grass and weeds had decomposed under layers of cardboard and dirt to feed the soil beneath, we added compost. Our yard was ready to support a greater diversity of plants.
Now we enjoy sunny summer days listening to humming of birds and bees. We watch flitter-fluttering butterfly wings among colorful petals of plants taller than two inch grass blades. That is, we do after the rest of the ‘hood finishes their roaring disturbance of suburban peace and tranquility. Some nearby lawns are already converting. We hope more follow soon. A garden like this brings enormous pleasure to neighbors walking by, as well as the wildlife gathering their bounty from this abundance.
As we became better acquainted with the microclimates of our yard, we planted a significant percentage of space that had been lawn with pollen providing plants, mostly native, some not. Non-natives are either drought tolerant or provide significant food source, both for us and little winged critters we rely on for so much. “One of every three bites of food we eat depends on them,” he (Ontario beekeeper Andre Flys) said. “The insects pollinate everything from blueberries to almonds.”
Snohomish Conservation Leaders of 2018
All of these were reasons given by staff at the Snohomish Conservation District when they chose to award us with the honor of “Conservation Leaders of 2018”
Leadership Carries Responsibility
We still pinch ourselves at the honor, privilege and responsibility that comes with this award. The biggest impact is how much this honor steps up my own sense of urgency. We continue to spread the word and do the work. We keep challenging ourselves as “leaders” do find new ways to contribute to a more sustainable community.
Bees sustain us. They lead by their example. We need to show we care and re-pay them for their labor. Each bee in the hive contributes the little bit of pollen she can pack on her wee legs. Similarly, each of us can do a little something every day to support the little ones who do so much for us.
We continue to demonstrate many small ways ordinary citizens such as ourselves can make a difference. The old gardening ditty comes to mind: “Inch by inch, row by row, gonna make this garden grow, all it takes is a rake and a hoe and a piece of fertile ground.” If you watched “Young Sheldon” following the final episode of Big Bang Theory you saw Dr. Sturgis singing as he planted. “Inch by inch, Row by row, Gonna make this garden grow, Gonna mulch it deep and-“
Laura – I appreciate this compelling post. I, too, believe in Bees. The photos in this post are just plain lovely and your print is awesome.!
Thanks, Mary Lou, I found the Bee picture on Unsplash.com, a great source for pictures like those I cannot take myself. The butterfly was one I snuck up on in our own Ninebark bush.
You are an inspiration … and I’m so grateful that you are leading this cause. We have way way way too much grass in our expansive yard, and not sure my hubby is ready to give it up. But I am envisioning a smaller cottage yard for our next residence and will gratefully learn from you when I find it. Thanks Lora!
Sometimes nibbling away at the edges of a lawn are the best way to start, Sora. And “nibbling” by replacing dull grass with some enticing smelling or tasting or delicately colored or patterned plant that delights can distract from the “loss” of lawn.
It’s fun to see which flowers attract which bees! I noticed at my community garden plot, the ‘Pink Champagne’ poppies I grew attract fat black bumblebees — which also visit the adjacent zinnias and cucumber flowers. Small yellow-furred bumblebees are the main visitors on the lavender. And the ‘Autumn Joy’ sedum and the ‘Pink Chintz’ thyme always attract a bevy of honeybees when they flower. Goldenrods are starting to bloom now; last year they attracted many small, intriguing wasps and flies. The big sunflowers are a draw for both bumble and honey bees, and they graze slowly over the floret disk. I never tire of watching the show!
I never had any idea how many different varieties of bees there were busily out there right here at home doing their pollinating thing. Power in diversity!
Just found a cool interactive map for locating rain gardens and calculating how much run-off has been manages by each: https://www.12000raingardens.org
When I went to the map linked at 12000raingardens.org, I found ours on the map and the calculation that it has managed 15,375 gallons of runoff annually. That is before the increasingly torrential rains we have had this fall and winter. It is also without taking into account the additional runoff from the back roof that has since been diverted to the rain garden when we are not storing and using it in the summer. This year, the amount of runoff managed could be nearly twice as much.