In February and March, the SDPA hosted a series of three virtual workshops on creating pollinator gardens in back yards, school gardens, churches, or any other space you have access to. Several guest speakers / Pollinator Alliance members kindly contributed, including Dr Michael Wall of the San Diego Natural History Museum, Annika Nabors of the UC Cooperative Extension, Mary Duffy from Earth Discovery Institute, and Alden Hough from Sky Mountain Permaculture. Workshops can also be viewed on our YouTube channel here. 

Calscape Garden Planner

• Follow this comprehensive tool to plan your native plant garden.

San Diego Pollinator Plant List

• Here is a quick guide to some plants that thrive in our region.

Xerces Society Pollinator Plant List

• Sort by state to see native plants that pollinators in your region love.

Pollinator Toolkit

• A guide for all you need to know to create pollinator habitat, created by the San Diego Pollinator Alliance.

Establishing Pollinator Meadows From Seed

• A guide from the Xerces Society on how to create your own pollinator meadow.

Gardening for Monarchs

• Tips from Monarch Joint Venture on attracting monarchs (and other pollinators) to your yard.

Monarch Waystations

• A certification for gardens that provide the resources that monarchs (and other pollinators) need. By registering as a Monarch Waystation, you join a national network of pollinator habitats.

Pollinator Habitat Restoration on Working Lands

• Use this informative guide to learn the co-benefits of pollinator services for working lands, like farms and ranches. If you are a commerical farmer or rancher in San Diego interested in this program, please fill out this form.

Residential Monarch Habitat Installation Program - Earth Discovery Institute

• Earth Discovery Institute will identify home garden sites to establish habitats that support the imperiled western monarch butterfly. Priority will be given to residents from under-served communities and different climactic zones throughout San Diego County. Check their site here for more eligibility requirements.  

SoCal Residential Pollinator Habitat Kit Program - Xerces Society

• The Southern California Habitat Kit Program serves to provide free transplants of native, pollinator-  friendly species to residents in Southern California.

•  A printable guide to providing safe nesting sites to the many types of native bees.

Support Native Bees

Creating safe nesting habitats for native bees is just as important as providing food. 

Around 70% of bees native to North America nest in the ground. The other 30% nest in cavities such as old beetle tunnels in wood or hollow plant stems. Because native bees they spend most of their lives in nests underground or in cavities, the availability of this nesting habitat is critical in supporting native bee populations.

To provide nesting sites for ground-nesting bees, leave some bare or sparsely vegetated patches of soil near flowering plants. Ground-nesting bees rely on patches of loose, undisturbed, sunny soil. Keep some parts of your garden un-vegetated and un-mulched and avoid soil disturbance like tilling to provide safe nesting sites.

To provide nesting sites for cavity-nesting bees, build and maintain nesting blocks following these evidence-based specifications and/or grow plants with hollow and pithy stems. Plants being used as nesting sites should be left untouched over the winter and should not be cut back until early Spring. The cut stems of these plants should be left in place during the following Spring to provide shelter for bee larvae (baby bees), pupae (kid bees), or overwintering adult bees. For more information on when to prune to protect native bees, click here. 

For a comprehensive, printer-friendly guide to create nesting sites for native bees, please click the link below.

Leave The Leaves

Many species of pollinators like butterflies, moths, bumblebees and beetles use leaf litter as food and shelter in the winter. Consider redefining a “messy garden” as one that is providing important habitat to pollinators.

• If you do move leaves, avoid using a mower that crushes and shreds leaves. Instead, reach for a rake or leaf-blower that will keep leaves whole.
• If you do decide to remove leaves, wait until late spring to limit disturbance during critical times and give overwintering animals a chance to emerge.
• If you don’t want scattered leaf litter, but still want to support the wildlife who depend on it, consider building a brush pile. See below.

Build A Habitat Pile

A pile of leaves and sticks is a truly magical thing!

If you have the space, creating a habitat pile (also called a brush pile) or “bug snug” is an easy and effective way to provide valuable habitat to a variety of animals. Habitat piles can simultaneously provide overwintering sites to butterflies, moths, bumblebees, and beetles, hiding, feeding, and perching places for a variety of songbirds, and protection from predators and the elements for lizards and small mammals.

Support Bats 

San Diego is home to an incredible 23 species of bats! In addition to their talents as natural pest control protecting crops, forests, and people from insects, bats pollinate a wide variety of plants, including agave, guava, bananas, evening primrose, and some species of cactus. 

Like other pollinators, bats face threats such as habitat loss due to development, invasive plant species, light pollution, wisepread use of pesticide, and climate-change related impacts. You can help create healthy nesting sites for bats by building a bat house following evidence-based designs:

 There are several nurseries that offer native plants in San Diego. Some include:

• Native West Nursery
• Moosa Creek Nursery
• City Farmers Nursery
• Mission Hills Nursery

The California Native Plant Society: View a comprehensive list of nurseries that sell native plants in Southern California.

California Native Plant Society – San Diego Chapter

• Organization dedicated to increasing understanding, appreciation and conservation of California’s fascinating variety of native plants in their natural environment and in horticultural settings. “Gardening with Natives” and “How-To Brochures” links on their website have lots of info on native plants and butterflies.  

CalScape

• Website where you can put in your address and learn about native plants that will do well in your area.

Native Seed Libraries

• Map of San Diego Bird Alliance's free native seed libraries located throughout the county.

The San Diego Pollinator Alliance has developed a series of native demonstration pollinator gardens across the county to give residents ideas on how to create pollinator habitat at home. Demonstration pollinator habitats have been planted at Sike’s Adobe within the San Dieguito River Park and the Los Jilgueros Preserve in Fallbrook, as well as at Lafayette Elementary and Scripps Ranch High School. We will soon be helping to install a pollinator garden at Chula Vista High School and within an HOA in San Marcos.

The SDPA hosts a thriving demonstration pollinator habitat at the San Diego County Fair called the Pollinator Pathway.  Built in 2015, it is now a permanent feature within the Fair’s Infield Farm. The Pollinator Pathway is open every day of the Fair (annually during June and early July). If you are visiting the Fair, stop by and learn about low water use, California native plants that provide essential habitat for our hardworking pollinators. The exhibit also features a butterfly free-flight house and a honey bee display. We are always open to hearing from schools or other sites that would like to host a demonstration habitat – please get in touch if you would like to get involved!

Other pollinator gardens to check out around San Diego County include:

• A native plant learning garden at Bird Park in Balboa Park
• The native garden at Barona Cultural Center and Museum in Lakeside
• The pollinator garden at Living Coast Discovery Center in Chula Vista

Check out a StoryMap of demonstration pollinator gardens in San Diego County here!