Demonstrating creation of habitat for beneficial insects - Year 3 (2020)

Abstract

Many people are interested in protecting pollinators by creating good habitat for them. The same habitat (flowers and grasses of varied shapes and sizes that provide blooms throughout the growing season) is also good for other beneficial arthropods (including both insects and arachnids, like spiders and predatory mites) that are natural enemies of pests. There are many different ways to establish these plants and manage weeds during the establishment process. In this project, we demonstrate some of these options, while also collecting data on how effective (both in terms of plant establishment success and attracting beneficial insects) and costly each method is. In this third year of the project, we continued to maintain the plots established in 2018 and collected data on the time and costs required and weed control achieved using each method, and visually documented the growth of the habitat plants. Over three years, all transplanted treatments required similar amounts of time to establish. The mulched treatment required more time for the initial installation, but less time to weed in subsequent years. It also has the best establishment of habitat plants and least weed cover. The fall seeded treatments are establishing better than the spring seeded treatment, although the decision to stop mowing the spring seeded treatment in 2020 may be impacting establishment. Additional wildflower species bloomed in the seeded treatments in 2020. Whether plants were established by transplanting or seeding, something was blooming from mid- to late May until mid-October (when data collection ceased).