Pollinator decline has been a huge buzz word the last few years and rightly so.  With so much focus on the use of pesticides, viruses, mites and whatnot – leaves us feeling helpless.

Welcome to the Nebraska Extension Pollinator Habitat Certification.  You spoke and we listened.  If you want to be a part of the solution we have the program for you.  With over 50 homes and business across the state already certified you to can make a difference.

Pollinators (bees, flies, beetles, butterflies and moths) all need different things and following a few basic steps you can make your yard more inviting.

1. Bloom time – choose from a range of flowers that bloom at different times of the year.  Not all pollinators emerge at the same time so we need flowers blooming all year long.
2. Diversity of flowers.  Don’t plant all of the same type of flowers.  Choose plants that have different flower colors, shape, and sizes.  But don’t stop there, plant in groups of three or more.
3. Access to soil and water.  Most pollinators are solitary and need access to the ground or mud to make their nest.  Insects, like all other animals, need water too.  Use a pie pan with gravel or marbles fill half full.
4. Reduce your pesticide use.  Pesticide is the umbrella term for any product that kills.  Such as herbicide, fungicide, insecticide . . . you get the drift.

Even if you don’t apply to have your landscape certified you can still make a difference by adopting some of these changes into your gardening practice.  More information here: https://entomology.unl.edu/pollinator-habitat-certification

Scott Evans

Scott Evans is a horticulture assistant with Nebraska Extension in Douglas-Sarpy Counties. A certified arborist through International Society of Arboirculture and Nebraska Arborist Association. Scott is also Tree Risk Assessment Qualified through ISA. Scott co-leads the Master Gardener program in Douglas & Sarpy counties. Along with volunteer management he provides his expertise with disease and insect identification, lawn and landscape weed management, plant health, and I.P.M. practices. He also enjoys growing many houseplants ranging from African violets to cacti and succulents. Scott has two Bachelors of Science, one in Biology (emphasis in Botany, Ecology and Environmental Science) and second in Environmental Geology from Northwest Missouri State University. He earned his Master of Agriculture from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.