Making Ways for Pollinators

Making a difference in the ways we support native bee pollinators is what this full day workshop is all about. In this workshop we will learn:

The difference between a bee, fly and wasp
The five major families of native bees
The flowers that provide the highest amount of food resources
Threats all pollinators are facing
Where the majority of bees nest and where to look for them
How to create good nesting opportunities
What we must be doing to protect all pollinators
Elements of landscape analysis using maps of Listening Tree Farm
How to start designing pollinator-attracting planting habitats using the farm as a model
The essentials of meadow making including seed ball making using native seeds

The day will be led by Tom Sullivan, owner of Pollinators Welcome, who has been designing beautiful pollinator habitat landscapes since 2009. A graduate of the Conway School of Landscape Design and designer of the first pollinator habitat nursery in Massachusetts, Tom teaches folks how to design and create pollinator habitats that meet pollinator biological needs by: appropriate siting of gardens in the landscape, choosing plants well suited to soil and sun, creating significant nesting opportunities and choosing pollinator life cycle protection through freedom from pesticides.

We will start off the day with Tom giving a talk, covering most if not all the items listed above. The rest of our morning will be spent crafting our own native seed-balls, that you can take home to attract pollinators to you own garden!

Then we will break for lunch- provided by Listening Tree Coperative farmers. A hardy farm to table meal.

During lunch Tom will be available to answer questions as well as run a loop showing native plants that are highly attractive to bees and butterflies.

After lunch we will review maps of the land (created by Jono Neiger) to locate important farm landscape elements, noting areas of planting and nesting opportunities to inform our designing. When we get back inside we’ll dive into a three-hours of design session working on two designs that you will bring home with you.

There will be ample time to ask questions during Tom’s talk, the seed ball making exercise, our walk about the farm and when we are designing.

This promises to be an exciting workshop! Hope to see you there!