Pollinator Protection

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Many flowering plants can't reproduce without the help of animal pollinators such as bees, butterflies, moths, wasps, flies, beetles, ants, sawflies and hummingbirds.

These vital creatures help maintain healthy ecosystems and even pollinate crops. Many native and non-native plants rely on specific types of pollinators to reproduce or bear fruit.

Provide habitat for all seasons

Aim to have something in bloom throughout Minnesota’s growing season (April-October). This provides food and shelter for breeding and migrating pollinators.
Plant native wildflowers that vary in height, with different bloom shapes, sizes and colors.
Protect and plant native trees, shrubs, grasses and sedges that feed butterfly and moth caterpillars.
Allow low-growing flowering plants, such as Dutch white clover and wild violet, to remain in your lawn.
Limit (or eliminate) chemical use.
Keep leaf litter and perennial plant stems in your landscape, as winter hideaways for pollinators.

Add plant diversity

Reduce chemical use

Chemicals are a common solution to pest and weed problems. But there’s a high price to pay for this approach: Pesticides can inadvertently kill or harm beneficial plants and pollinators.

Ecological pest control – sometimes called integrated pest management – focuses on maintaining a healthy, diverse landscape that is less vulnerable to pests:

Plant native species, including trees, shrubs, grasses and wildflowers, to host pollinators and wildlife.
Tolerate moderate plant damage by beneficial insects, in return for their invaluable services to our ecosystem.
Create habitat for insect predators such as songbirds, toads, snakes, bats and dragonflies.
Learn about pest life cycles in order to control pests during their most vulnerable stage. (For example, adult Japanese beetles can devastate plant foliage. Control the grubs, which live in turf, by watering the lawn less.)
Try hand-picking or use nonchemical products, like horticultural oils or growth regulators, to manage specific pests on particular plants.
Apply chemical pesticides only when other strategies have failed. Target problem areas rather than broadcasting chemicals widely.

Take the Polli-neighbor Pledge

Choose diverse native plants to provide food for pollinators in all their life stages.
Include milkweed - it's the only food monarch caterpillars can eat.
Use fewer yard chemicals - they can harm or kill pollinators.
Provide winter habitat, such as leaf piles and bare soil patches.

Polli-Neighbor Pledge 2023

Rusty-patched bumblebee

The City of Minnetonka and the Center for Biological Diversity have approved an agreement to help protect the endangered rusty-patched bumble bee and its habitat in Lone Lake Park.