If dandelions, clovers or other perennial weeds seem to be overtaking your lawn, you may want to think twice about using herbicides. While flowering weeds may be unsightly to you, they’re food to butterflies, bees and other pollinators. Most plants need help with pollination, and it’s estimated that pollinators are responsible for bringing us one out of every three bites of food.

One of the most helpful things property owners can do to help pollinators is to avoid the use of herbicides. There can be a beauty to a lawn that has a mix of plants – even clover and dandelions. The flowers add splashes of color through the year. Also, you’ll be able to enjoy the sound of insects through the summer, rather than the silence that the use of insecticides can bring.

If you decide to spray, there are still some steps you can take to protect pollinators:

• Mow the weeds down first to remove the flowers
• Wait until June to apply pesticides. The blooming time for some species will be past. Also, early-season pollinators are still recovering from winter stress in March and April.
• Maintain a high mowing height for grass to promote deeper root systems and enhance tolerance to stress and injury from pests.
• Establish plots of pollinator-friendly plants
• If using insecticides, use granular formulations which fall to the ground and avoid direct contamination of flowering portions of blooming plants.

To learn more about how you can help pollinators, visit the Pollinator Partnership web site at www.pollinator.org, or contact the Clermont Soil and Water Conservation District at (513) 732-7075.