A typical lawn is a dead zone for bees. But plant a patch of native plants, and it begins to buzz with excitement. Pollinator Palooza, a do-it-yourself program from land restoration nonprofit Journeywork, provides Philadelphia-area residents with enough native plant plugs to fill a 4-by-12-foot space on their lawn.
Registration costs $85 and runs through late November; Journeywork delivers the plant plugs in the spring. The gap gives participants time to smother the grass with cardboard and mulch over the winter, so the patch is ready to plant when the plugs arrive.
“The program is designed for everyone, especially people who don’t necessarily garden but want to do something to increase biodiversity and pollinators and see more butterflies,” says Journeywork founder and executive director Paige Menton. “This helps break it down and make it affordable.”
Menton focuses the program on bee-supporting plants, since they pollinate food crops. The goal is to remove barriers to growing native plants at home by giving “people the complete package to get started, with plants that are pretty hardy,” she says.
“Once you have [the plants] established, you really don’t need to do too much,” says two-time Pollinator Palooza participant and Mount Airy resident Patrick Case. “I’ve gotten some carpenter bees setting up shop in my yard, so it’s doing what it’s supposed to do.”
As the patch fills in, participants can watch insects and birds arrive in numbers less likely with a standard lawn.
“Once they have a few [plants] and see what they attract, it gets to be exciting to see what’s coming to your yard,” Menton says.
