Building a Pollinator Garden Up North: MSU Experts Advise

MSU Extension experts share tips for location, soil, plants, and more

By Anna Faller | May 10, 2025

A pollinator garden is a habitat designed to benefit pollinators, the animals and insects that help plants reproduce, whose numbers have recently been on the decline around the world due to factors like habitat degradation, climate change, and human interference. In fact, Michigan’s bee population has dropped by more than half throughout the last 15 years.

With thousands of native pollinator species in Michigan alone, there’s never been a better time to help support that ecosystem diversity. But where do you start, and how can you best set your plant babies up for success?

Northern Express sat down with Michigan State University Master Gardener State Leader Sarah Rautio and MSU Consumer Horticulture Educator Nate Walton for the latest buzz on best gardening practices, seedlings, soil types, and beyond.

Location, Location, Location

As with any horticultural project, the first step toward building a pollinator garden is determining where—in your yard, on your patio, in your window box—to put it.

Though this could really be anywhere, the MSU experts suggest starting with an open plot with access to water and plenty of sunlight. Not only will this give you more options as far as viable species, but it’ll also ensure your flowering plants have enough energy to produce abundant blooms.

“Big flowers take a lot of energy, which those plants need to gather from the sun,” Walton adds.

From there, it’s all about “knowing your site,” which starts with assessing your soil type. “The key to success is figuring out what you have and matching plants that will grow best there,” notes Rautio.

Typical categories in northern Michigan include sandy, loamy, and clay composites. But to really know what you’re working with, Rautio recommends conducting a soil test, which will outline the finer details of your dirt’s makeup, like nutrient gaps and pH levels, all vital for flowers and perennials. (To request an at-home soil assessment, contact MSU’s Extension services at homesoiltest.msu.edu.)

This information will also impact any care adjustments you make, like irrigation and supplements (fertilizer or compost use), which not only vary based on your soil’s setup, but can also come with environmental implications beyond your garden. Over-fertilizing, for example, can contaminate local water bodies by leaching into groundwater stores.

Removing invasive vegetation is another point to consider for your new garden space. To do this, Walton recommends “smothering,” which involves covering pesky plants with material like cardboard to block oxygen. Stay away from herbicides and chemical sprays, though, which can threaten the health of the landscape (and you!).

Planting Success

Once you’ve fully assessed your site, it’s time to start talking plant varieties.

“Growing zones are really tight in the Traverse City region,” Rautio says. Consequently, the span of a few short miles could mean the difference between growing woody herbs in dry soil and installing perennials, like Buttonbush or Spotted Joe-Pye Weed, in a shoreline plot.

Nevertheless, choosing flowering plants is generally a safe bet, says Walton, since a goal of most pollinator gardens is to provide food for animal and insect species. The two also stress that native plants are far more likely to thrive in these habitats—and with less effort involved—than species that originated elsewhere.

When you’re ready to buy, the experts suggest starting with local nurseries and conservation districts—even better if you can find a spot that specializes in native species—whose staff tend to be most in tune with the needs of the local ecosystem.

Some of the MSU Extention’s regional go-to’s include the Grand Traverse, Leelanau, and Antrim County Conservation districts, which host native plant sales every spring, as well as the Four Season Nursery and Pine Hill Nursery & Landscaping, both of which have Traverse City locations. The Michigan Master Gardener Association (michiganmastergardener.org), of which MSU is a partner, also offers an extensive list of statewide native plant nurseries.

“[Those resources] are a great way to buy local and get plants that you know are native to our area,” Walton adds.

Let’s Grow

As for when to plant your new stock? Rautio says the effort can be year-round, but how you’ll begin depends on the season. Start by aiming for end-cap months, as summer is often too hot to plant. Then there’s the question of whether to start from seeds or transplanted sprouts, aka “plugs.”

On a broad scale, plugs will likely give your garden a better head start in terms of growth, as they already have a root ball established; but if you’re planning to sow a large swath of land, seeds are usually the more economical option.

Per Walton, a good rule of green-thumb to follow when planting is to put plugs in the ground right away, during spring or early fall in particular, while seeds might germinate more successfully when planted toward the end of the season. Seed varieties can differ in terms of optimal planting conditions, so consult the package before you commit.

To get the best bang for your buck, your garden should also feature a healthy mix of spring and autumn bloomers, so that multiple plant varieties are hitting their peak, and therefore supporting pollinators, throughout the season.

On the early end, milkweed is always a winner, says Walton, which provides food and flowers for several bee species, as well as the threatened monarch butterfly (he highlights a few native variants, like Swamp and Butterfly Milkweed for local gardens). Other early season plants include wild strawberry for burgeoning bumblebee colonies, and trees like oak, wild cherry, and maple for their sky-high crowns of springtime flowers.

As for later season blooms, Walton’s partial to aster species, in particular smooth and New England varieties, as well as the often-abundant goldenrod, whose bright yellow flowers are vital for sustaining bees and dozens of other insects.

A Connected Ecosystem

A fully-fledged pollinator garden can provide so much more than just food and flowers. “It’s not just about the pollen and nectar, but also about the habitat,” Rautio says.

Shrubs like elderberry, for instance, have hollow-centered stems and shoots that certain bee species use for nests, while their leaves provide foliage for caterpillars. There are also plenty of Michigan pollinators—notably, beetles and wasps, among several others—that wait out the winter leafy green shelters or hibernating underground.

To help maintain and expand those systems, Rautio encourages gardeners to minimize seasonal cleaning, unless you’re weeding out a pest, and if possible, to “let some of your landscape go wild!”

“If you’re constantly clearing or only have turf, you can impact the spaces where insects live,” she adds. This can contribute to issues like landscape fragmentation—that’s when groups of organisms are separated, leading to higher risk of extinction—loss of local biodiversity, and disruption of the ecological network by which plants and their pollinators survive.

Establishing natural habitat, especially in urban areas, helps connect the ecosystem corridors that sustain and grow those populations.

“Keeping a diverse and stable ecosystem is critical for sustainability,” Rautio says. “In urban and suburban areas, that [ecosystem] is often separated; but if every plot has a little natural habitat, that’s going to help a lot.”

And don’t be afraid to make mistakes! Building a garden is supposed to be fun, and if it isn’t, it’s not sustainable. Start small, consult the experts (snap a photo and send it to ask.extension.org/open.php if you need help on-the-spot!), and try to be gentle with yourself.

“Keep at it!” concludes Rautio. “The more you do it, the more you’ll learn and the more successful you’ll be.”