There are two main reasons that you might consider planting a pollinator garden in pots instead of in the ground: Either you don’t have a garden bed—or you’ve run out of space to plant anything more in your garden. In either scenario, a container garden can support pollinators just as well as an in-ground garden. Even if you aren’t dealing with space constraints, you might consider adding some pollinator pots, says Alicia Whitaker, a master gardener and a co-leader for the Suffolk Alliance for Pollinators’s South Fork chapter. “If they’re near an outdoor seating area, the gardener can see and enjoy the wildlife that will be attracted.” Plus, she notes: Containers are also a great option if the gardener has a mobility issue or other handicap that makes gardening in the ground difficult.
Here, nine tips on how to garden for pollinators in pots:
1. Be prepared to water often.
The most common mistake with any container garden is underwatering. “The soil in pots dries out faster, especially in a very sunny and hot environment, such as a windy deck or brick patio surface,” says Whitaker, who notes that people often underestimate the water needs of container plants because they are accustomed to worrying about overwatering indoor houseplants.
2. Go big.
Garden pros recommend choosing the largest container possible. “A higher volume of soil will dry out less quickly,” explains Whitaker. But there’s another reason to go big: The more plants you cram into a pot, the better the chances the pollinators will find them. “When we use large pots or gang pots together in groups, we create some floral targets for pollinators,” says ecological horticulturist Kim Eierman, the author of The Pollinator Victory Garden and founder of EcoBeneficial. “That’s really important. Having a larger target makes it much easier for the pollinator to find the resource.” If you’re worried about weight, you can use a false bottom planter.
3. Amend the soil.
Both Whitaker and Eierman suggest mixing compost into the container’s soil, to nourish the plants and encourage root growth. “I apply a limited amount of compost a couple times a year to beef up the soil biology because there’s no interchange with any other soil,” adds Eierman. “I just put it on top and let rain do its thing.” Whitaker adds, “We often hear that native perennials prefer leaner soil and don’t require fertilizer, but the artificial environment of a container calls for better soil and the regular use of organic fertilizer.”
4. Consistency + variety is key.
Just like humans, pollinators need a diverse diet, but that doesn’t mean you need to run out and buy dozens of different plants. Eierman says to aim for a balance between diversity and sufficiency of given plants. So, rather than having many tiny plants of a wide variety of species, focus on a few types. “It’s better to have a more substantial amount of that one species,” says Eierman. Whitaker adds, “Think drifts, not polka dots.” When pollinators forage they’re looking for that one plant species, so a repetition of bloom from container to container can attract them without having one massive target, Eierman notes.
5. Give the bugs color cues.
“We know that pollinators have their color preferences,” says Whitaker. Hummingbirds are attracted to red flowers, while many bees love purples and yellows. Butterflies are drawn to a wide range of colors, but moths are attracted to white blossoms. “it’s good to have a variety of colors, and a variety of shapes,” says Whitaker, noting, “There are almost no wrong choices.”
6. Choose native plants.
To best support pollinators, plant hyper-local native plants. The regional plants in your ecosystem have co-evolved with the wildlife around them. Some of these relationships, like monarchs and milkweeds are well known, but more are being discovered all the time. “There are probably gazillions of these co-evolutionary connections that we haven’t even yet observed,” says Eierman. She also notes that just because a plant is beloved by pollinators doesn’t mean that it’s something you want to plant in your garden: Bees love the highly invasive Japanese knotweed, for example. Of course, if there’s something you want to add just for beauty’s sake: Do.
7. Prioritize generalist plants.
“If you’re limited on space, focus on species that tend to attract a lot of different types of pollinators,” says Eierman. For example, pollinators love agastache and there’s a native variety for most parts of the country; likewise, butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) attracts a lot of different types of pollinators and is native throughout much of the country. Just be sure to pay attention to the plant’s full size: While butterfly weed and swamp milkweed do well in pots, common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) is not suited for most containers. Likewise, the straight species of Joe-pye weed is very tall, but there’s a cultivar called ‘Little Joe’ that is fine for container culture.
8. Make a mini meadow.
Whitaker suggests it’s fun to use a pollinator meadow seed mix to plant a mini meadow in a pot. “This is a great way to trial a seed mix you’re considering for use in the ground,” she notes. “It can make for a very attractive, wild planting that looks good through the growing season and offers up some surprises.”
9. Supercharge your herb garden.
Nock suggests creating a container garden that combines herbs and pollinator plants. “We planted a trio of pots both for pollinators and for my client to cut herbs–and some of the herbs are also attractive to pollinators,” says Nock.
Extra Credit
Scrutinize cultivars. Many cultivars are valuable pollinator plants, but Whitaker and Eierman say to avoid plants with double flowers, which make it more difficult for pollinators to access nectar and pollen. If you’re confident with your native species, you can start to be more discerning about plants marketed as “native cultivars.” For example, Agastache ‘Blue Fortune’, which is often touted as a native cultivar, is actually a hybrid between native species and Korean mint. Bees love it, but it’s sterile, meaning it produces no seeds. “Now we’ve got a plant that has a more limited ecosystem function,” Eierman explains. “And you’re missing out on all those wonderful finches and other birds that love that seed.”
Stretch the season. Another consideration once you’re ready for a next-level challenge is to try to provide nourishment from early in the growing season into the fall. Many native perennials have a limited period of bloom, so you’ll need to be strategic to create a succession of uninterrupted blooms. Whitaker says annuals can help fill in the gaps. Two of her favorites gardening in Zone 7 are cigar plant (Cuphea), which is attractive to long nosed bees and hummingbirds, and salvias (especially the tall tender perennial varieties).
Make a plan for winter. “It’s difficult to overwinter plants in outdoor containers unless you have a very protected environment for winter storage,” cautions Whitaker. Because ceramic and terra-cotta pots are prone to breaking in the freeze/thaw cycle, you should plan to remove plants and soil when freezing conditions develop, or remove and plant perennials in the ground earlier in the fall.
See also:
- Landscape Ideas: What to Plant for Pollinators? Choose Milkweed
- Gardening 101: Butterfly Bush
- Native Bee Balm: Pollinator-Friendly and Delicious, Too
- Pollinator Gardens: 8 Easy Steps to Design a Landscape with Native Plants
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