[Pollinator] [beemonitoring] Bee Lawn Mix Thought

[Matthew Shepherd (Xerces Society)]

Sam,

You may be pleased to know that the idea of flowery lawns has not been totally overlooked. We've been promoting "ecolawns" wherever we can -- and I admit that it has only been in a few places to date, so I doubt it has had a big impact yet. Whenever I get the opportunity to talk to gardeners, urban/suburban park managers, and others with lawns under their purview, finding ways to reduce the intensity of lawn maintenance and allow flowers to bloom is part of the discussion.

Our guidelines for urban greenspaces ("Pollinator-Friendly Parks", available from the publications pages of our web site, www.xerces.org), includes mention of ecolawns and suggests some low-growing plants. The reality is that many areas of grass are already low-maintenance and in the eyes of some lawn aficionados, full of weeds, so they offer some bee resources.

Matthew

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On 2/4/2009 at 1:00 PM David Inouye wrote:

From: Sam Droege <sdroege at usgs.gov>
Sender: beemonitoring at yahoogroups.com
Mailing-List: list beemonitoring at yahoogroups.com; contact beemonitoring-owner at yahoogroups.com

All: 

>From what I have seen of the urban pollination/pollinator world, the concentration of research, advice, and management has focused on flowering plants, both in remnant parkland and in garden plots.  All good.  Bees are found in surprising places and easily surpass butterflies in abundance and kinds.  But.  Places that are gardenable and convertible are limited, particularly compared to paved areas and lawns.   Paved areas are of limited use for pollinators, of course, but lawns, while ignored by the average bee urbanite, are not.   We have sampled lawns on the National Mall and elsewhere and found bees in abundance.  What are they doing there?  I think it has a lot to do with  prostrate flowers such as clover, purslane, and spurge plus the quick bloomers such as dandelions and plantains.  

What if someone would develop a bee lawn seed mix?  

Wouldn't that potentially have a higher impact on the number and kinds of bees in urban areas than the high effort, high cost, high maintenance (but, yes, very pretty) pollinator garden?  Particularly if most people don't want to go to the effort? 

What if highway departments seeded with a bee roadside mix that didn't require them to NOT mow or to treat any different than they do now....wouldn't that be an even greater impact than the few places where people tolerate weedy looking native plant plots and can afford the planting and upkeep? 

sam 

                                               
Sam Droege  sdroege at usgs.gov                      
w 301-497-5840 h 301-390-7759 fax 301-497-5624
USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center
BARC-EAST, BLDG 308, RM 124 10300 Balt. Ave., Beltsville, MD  20705
Http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov 


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The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation
The Xerces Society is an international nonprofit organization that 
protects wildlife through the conservation of invertebrates and their 
habitat. To join the Society, make a contribution, or read about our 
work, please visit www.xerces.org.

Matthew Shepherd
Senior Conservation Associate
4828 SE Hawthorne Boulevard, Portland, OR 97215, USA
Tel: 503-232 6639 Cell: 503-807 1577 Fax: 503-233 6794
Email: mdshepherd at xerces.org 
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