How a Friend Created a Pollinator Garden
An illustrated tour of the garden for two years
My friend Claudia Perazza, a gardener committed to transforming her yard, started a pollinator garden in the spring of 2023 that re-blossomed in 2024.
2023: Conversion, design, and first plants
In March 2023, Claudia hired a gardener to remove the grass in four parts of her yard and replace it with raised planting beds.
She ordered the plants from The Pollen Nation, a website that sells native and pollinator plant plugs. These are trays with multiple 2" wide and up to 5" deep pots containing small plants ready to be planted in the yard.
The plants arrived in early May and she ordered two times more to cover more ground. One of her neighbors helped Claudia decide where to plant the plugs, and another gave her black-eyed Susans.
Claudia also looked for landscape design assistance from Monarch Gardens. Another friend gave her bee balms, phlox, and more black-eyed Susans.
Claudia felt very satisfied with this project. She learned about plant behaviors and growing cycles by attending online workshops on native plants and other garden-related topics.
