Community Engaged-Strategy for Implementing Bee Lawns
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The Vision
This project aims to inform and encourage the City of Hopkins to consider bee lawns as a green space option in their future projects and give them the tools needed to educate the public and give them resources to plant bee lawns on private lands. |
About Bee Lawns
Bee lawns, also known as flowering lawns, are a great alternative to traditional turfgrass lawns that provides habitat for pollinators. Bee lawns are similar to traditional turfgrass lawns but incorporate low-growing flowering plants. Some common species used in bee lawns are dutch white clover, blue violet, and dandelion. These flowering plants’ presence is greatly beneficial to bees and other pollinating insects, whose numbers have been decreasing with increasing development and urbanization across the United States.
Bee lawns, also known as flowering lawns, are a great alternative to traditional turfgrass lawns that provides habitat for pollinators. Bee lawns are similar to traditional turfgrass lawns but incorporate low-growing flowering plants. Some common species used in bee lawns are dutch white clover, blue violet, and dandelion. These flowering plants’ presence is greatly beneficial to bees and other pollinating insects, whose numbers have been decreasing with increasing development and urbanization across the United States.
How to Plant a Bee Lawn Bee lawns can be converted from a turfgrass lawn or be planted on bare soil using various seed blends. For a lawn renovation project, it is recommended to start with bare soil to limit competition. To convert a pre-existing turfgrass lawn, it is best to first mow the lawn to less than 1 inch in height and aerate the soil to increase air, water, and nutrient flow before seeding. Starter fertilizer should be applied during or immediately following seed planting. |
How to Maintain a Bee Lawn
Bee lawns are low maintenance and require less water than traditional turfgrass lawns. They can be mowed like traditional lawns but require mowing only 1 to 3 times per month instead of the 3 to 6 per month need for a traditional lawn. It is important to remember that when maintaining a bee lawn that herbicides and pesticide use should be avoided because of the negative effect they can have on the visiting pollinating insects.
Bee lawns are low maintenance and require less water than traditional turfgrass lawns. They can be mowed like traditional lawns but require mowing only 1 to 3 times per month instead of the 3 to 6 per month need for a traditional lawn. It is important to remember that when maintaining a bee lawn that herbicides and pesticide use should be avoided because of the negative effect they can have on the visiting pollinating insects.
What Bee Lawns Can Do for Your Community
There are numerous benefits to bee lawns, both social and ecological. Bee lawns are aesthetically pleasing with the color and visual diversity they provide to otherwise uniform turfgrass lawns. Increasing the presence of flowering plants has been shown to improve mood and decrease stress-related depression. Many urban areas lack native plant biodiversity, which can be increased by blending the common traditional turfgrass lawns with other species like the low flowering plants ideal for bee lawns. Increasing native plant biodiversity by implementing bee lawns creates a more complex root system, which will improve soil structure and decrease runoff and erosion potential. The diversity of plant roots will also filter out nutrients in rainwater that would otherwise pollute groundwater
There are numerous benefits to bee lawns, both social and ecological. Bee lawns are aesthetically pleasing with the color and visual diversity they provide to otherwise uniform turfgrass lawns. Increasing the presence of flowering plants has been shown to improve mood and decrease stress-related depression. Many urban areas lack native plant biodiversity, which can be increased by blending the common traditional turfgrass lawns with other species like the low flowering plants ideal for bee lawns. Increasing native plant biodiversity by implementing bee lawns creates a more complex root system, which will improve soil structure and decrease runoff and erosion potential. The diversity of plant roots will also filter out nutrients in rainwater that would otherwise pollute groundwater
Recommendations for Implementing Bee Lawns in Hopkins
Park Areas Suitable for Implementation
Using the Hopkins Park Inventory from 2015, Hopkin’s parks were assessed for the viability of bee lawn implementation. 18 parks were rated as low, medium, and high viability for bee lawns. 7 parks had high feasibility for implementation, as they had ample isolated space. 8 of the parks were assessed as medium viability. These parks tend to have many recreational usages and a limited amount of open green space that is a safe distance from playgrounds. Only 3 out of the 18 parks were determined to have low viability. These parks have no green space, offer no distance from recreational areas, and are unwise for implementation. This opens a great opportunity for Hopkins to plant many bee lawns
Recommended Seed Mixes
There are many options for low flowering plants to integrate with traditional turfgrass lawns. To ensure plant survivability, possible seed mixes were created based on species with similar light requirements and time of planting. Some species such as blue violet and dutch white clover are very versatile and can be planted during any season and with any light requirements. |
Outreach with Hopkins Residents
Community engagement lies at the heart of this project. The productive participation of the Hopkins community will be a key indicator of its success. Bee lawns can only provide social benefits if residents are aware and excited about their presence and purpose. We wanted community input to be a driving force in the preliminary decision-making process, such as choosing where to place bee lawns. As such, we designed a survey where residents can voice their opinions and concerns before anything is set in motion.
We believe that bee lawns can become hubs for environmental education and community engagement through signage and activities. We designed two types of active learning events, one in-person and one remote, where residents learn about bee lawn ecology, their social and environmental benefits, and methods of supporting pollinator conservation at home. Trained volunteers will lead the events and provide fun activities for participants. We hope community members’ participation as volunteer activity leaders will strengthen community excitement about bee lawns.
We believe that bee lawns can become hubs for environmental education and community engagement through signage and activities. We designed two types of active learning events, one in-person and one remote, where residents learn about bee lawn ecology, their social and environmental benefits, and methods of supporting pollinator conservation at home. Trained volunteers will lead the events and provide fun activities for participants. We hope community members’ participation as volunteer activity leaders will strengthen community excitement about bee lawns.
3 Year Plan for Implementation in Hopkins
Based on our report’s findings (see “Educational Resources”), a prospective 3-year plan on bee lawn awareness and implementation has been designed for Hopkins. The plan focuses the most on building awareness within the community through surveying public opinion and distributing educational resources like informative pamphlets. After awareness has been built up, Hopkins officials expand their pledge to be pollinator-safe by pledging to be pollinator-friendly by actively introducing more pollinator-attracting plants into the community. With increased awareness and a pollinator-friendly pledge, Hopkins can move forward to start determining sites of implementation and training city staff on how to determine appropriate seed mixes for planting and how to maintain the lawns.
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Educational Resources
Want to help spread the word about bee lawns? Here are some sample pamphlets for easy information distribution. Also included is an example of signage that can be placed on or near bee lawns to help people understand why there are flowers mixed in with the lawn. For even further detail on bee lawns, our full-length report (to be attached when finalized) on implementing bee lawns in Hopkins is available below. The report contains more detailed documentation of our team’s methods, findings, and recommendations related to bee lawns in Hopkins. Additionally, within the report are many products not seen here, like a sample survey, sample plans for educational events, a draft of a pledge to be pollinator-friendly, and a more in-depth version of the three-year plan.
Additional Resources
Here are some great resources for learning about all things bees
Here are some great resources for learning about all things bees
The University of Minnesota Bee Lab researches bee keeping, native populations, conservation, and much more.
https://www.beelab.umn.edu/resources-beekeepers/free-bee-information
The USDA Forest Service published a simple and informative guide on how to support a variety of pollinators in your front yard.
https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/pollinators/gardening.shtml
More interested in bee biology? Check out this guide to bee colonies from the Mid-Atlantic Apiculture Research and Extension Consortium.
https://agdev.anr.udel.edu/maarec/honey-bee-biology/the-colony-and-its-organization/
Did you know that bees communicate through dance? Learn about the so called “waggle dance” from Bee Health.
https://bee-health.extension.org/dance-language-of-the-honey-bee/
https://www.beelab.umn.edu/resources-beekeepers/free-bee-information
The USDA Forest Service published a simple and informative guide on how to support a variety of pollinators in your front yard.
https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/pollinators/gardening.shtml
More interested in bee biology? Check out this guide to bee colonies from the Mid-Atlantic Apiculture Research and Extension Consortium.
https://agdev.anr.udel.edu/maarec/honey-bee-biology/the-colony-and-its-organization/
Did you know that bees communicate through dance? Learn about the so called “waggle dance” from Bee Health.
https://bee-health.extension.org/dance-language-of-the-honey-bee/
Other Pollinator-Friendly Options if Bee Lawns Don't Suit Your Chosen Site
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