![]() It needs to work with how you use your yard and also be a place where the plants will grow well. There are a few things to consider when choosing where to put your bee lawn. This residence in Richfield has a clover lawn in the backyard that is bordered by sidewalk and garden beds. Other insect pollinators include butterflies. One interesting thing about self-heal is its flowers attract some of the larger bees in Minnesota such as bumblebees, while also attracting very small bees that can fit directly inside the flowers to get nectar. The purple flowers produce mostly nectar along with some pollen for pollinators.įor people who enjoy a pop of purple color in their bee lawns, self-heal flowers are a nice addition.It can grow in sun to part shade, and in different soil types except for sandy soil.Self-heal is adaptable to many different home lawn conditions. They found that 95% of the flower visitors to self-heal were native bees. UMN researchers have found that self-heal, being a native plant, is especially good at attracting native bees. One thing different about this plant, as opposed to the other two common bee lawn flowers, is that this one is native to our region. lanceolata) is another plant that has been found to work well in bee lawns. Learn more about the UMN’s work with honey bees. White clover is often used by beekeepers as a forage crop for their honey bees in honey production. The flowers are white and sometimes have a pinkish tint. The flowers can be fragrant and are reminiscent of honey. Its pollen has the high protein content that pollinators that collect pollen need and the nectar has a high sugar content, which is good for those pollinators that depend on nectar. The forage quality of the flowers for bees is excellent. White clover has a long bloom time, usually from the end of May to October with a peak of flowering in June. This means that white clover doesn’t need to be fertilized with nitrogen, making it a good part of a low-input lawn. As a legume, it has the ability to fix its own nitrogen. White clover has one particular trait that the other two bee lawn flowers don’t have. It is tolerant to some shade, though it may bloom sparsely without enough sun, and is adaptable to different soil types. White clover has many positive traits that make it ideal for a bee lawn. ![]() It is unfortunate that white clover is now thought of as a weed in home lawns. You have probably seen white clover many times and may already have white clover in your lawn. It is a non-native species (as are all the cool-season turfgrasses) and somewhere along the line it became considered a weed. Video: Turfgrass Species for Low-Input Minnesota Lawnsĭutch white clover ( Trifolium repens), often just called white clover, was once commonly included in lawn seed mixes.Two other commonly used turfgrasses in our region are perennial ryegrass and tall fescue, but they are not recommended for bee lawns. But Kentucky bluegrass tends to need more fertilizer and water compared to the fine fescues. Kentucky bluegrass will also work well because of its growth habit and its tolerance of growing with many of the bee lawn flowers. Plus they are compatible growing together with bee lawn flowers. Research by UMN researchers on bee lawns has found some that perform better in bee lawns in Minnesota.įine fescues are a group of five different species that include:Ī mix of fine fescues is considered the best option for bee lawns because fine fescues do well with little to no inputs of fertilizer, irrigation, or pesticides for weed control. For these reasons, clover lawns are now experiencing a comeback.There are many options for cool-season turfgrasses to use in home lawns. Not only do they look more interesting than your typical turf, but wild gardens can also serve as refuges for local wildlife and havens for high-quality soil. These days, more people are starting to see the value in filling in their yards with many types of plants instead. Lawns dotted with clover were the norm for hundreds of years until the rise of herbicides and pesticides convinced us that lawns should contain grass and grass only anything else is a weed. "It grows well here-especially in disturbed areas like lawns," says Nancy Lawson, naturalist and author of The Humane Gardener: Nurturing a Backyard Habitat for Wildlife. from Europe in the 1600s and quickly started thriving across many parts of the country from there. It can be any ratio of that mix," explains Emily Murphy, organic gardener and author of the new book Grow Now: How We Can Save Our Health, Communities, and Planet―One Garden at a Time. "A clover lawn is typically a mix of clover and whichever grass type grows best in your region or climate. Clovers are small, rapidly-growing legumes.
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