Question: We just purchased 40 acres of raw land in San Augustine, TX. It is our goal to be off the grid and keep the land as natural as possible. We only have about 5 acres cleared and are leaving the rest with the natural trees. I want to create a garden that invites natural pollinators and also allows us to grow veggies for our family. Where would you recommend I start? Are there specific websites or classes you recommend? I am invested in learning whatever I need to make this a success! Thanks!! 

Answer: Working on such a large scale can be a little overwhelming so I recommend starting with a subscription to Mother Earth News if you haven’t already. They have lots of great advice from people who have successfully done exactly what you’re doing. 

You can find calculations for vegetable garden size. For example, some recommendations include 4,000 sq.ft. of growing space/person. If 60% of your garden is grain/carbon crops, then 40% is veggies (4,000 x .40 = 1,600 sq.ft./person). Rows 4ft x 25ft provides 16 rows/person (4 x 25 = 100 sq.ft., 100 x 16 = 1,600 sq.ft.). 1,600 sq.ft. x 4 (people) = 6400 sq.ft. or 64 rows that are 4 feet by 25 feet, about 14.5% of an acre (43,560 sq.ft.). Without pathways, the total area is approx. 256 ft. x 25 ft. Hope that math is right!

You will find a kindred soul in Doug Tallamy. His book “Bringing Nature Home” chronicles how he and his wife purchased a large acreage and transformed it into a sustaining and biodiverse oasis.

A great group to talk to is Native American Seed. They sell seed on a large scale and can help you build native, low-mow grasses. They also have wonderful native wildflower mixes. They are incredibly helpful and nice to talk to, and perusing their website is just plain fun. I am using them to transform my own tiny quarter-acre lot to native grass.

For classes, I recommend finding your closest Master Gardener group. Urban Harvest is a Houston non-profit with courses ranging from vegetable gardens to composting to permaculture. They are in the process of converting their courses online https://www.urbanharvest.org/education/classes/ 

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension office is also in the process of converting courses online, although I don’t see any that would work for you for now.

Most importantly, I encourage you to begin your personal learning journey by keeping a journal of the plants, wildlife, and terrain as you learn about them. Create a free account on iNaturalist to identify plants with their built-in identification algorithms. Post pictures of insects and vertebrates for experts to identify. This “Citizen Science” site provides experts with crucial survey information about plants and animals in your area, and it helps you learn in return. You may be the first person to identify many of the species there, as there are not many records for your county. 

I hope this gives you inspiration to start! The fall is a great time to begin seeding your fall cover crop 🙂

Question: How can I convert my lawn help to support pollinators?

Answer: This project is well worth your effort! Native plants help pollinators, don’t require watering, and stop reproduction of mosquitos. St. Augustine grass (NOT native) is like a mosquito breeding nursery – perfect conditions for larvae. They actually evolved together in the tropics to support one another. No amount of mosquito granules or pesticides will ever eradicate it better than removing their natural breeding grass. 

If you want to start from seed, I recommend Native American Seed company. They are a Texas seed company, and anyone you talk to will walk you through how to convert your lawn. They have seed mixes for low-growing wildflowers (my favorite) and no-water, no-mow grass mixes. Here is a link to their website with information on converting a lawn: https://www.seedsource.com/garden/grasstips.asp

Another option is groundcover plants. The Native Plant Society of Texas  (NPSOT) is one of my favorite resources. I, myself, am slowly encouraging Phyla nodiflora (frogfruit) to take over my lawn at home. It makes me happy knowing I am providing crucial host plants for two butterfly species.

To learn more about our local houston plants and insects, I highly recommend the educational page, by local naturalist and educator, Lauren Simpson with St. Julian’s Crossing Wildlife Habitat; https://www.facebook.com/St-Julians-Crossing-wildlife-habitat-1609337762653792

Question: Do you have any recommendations on landscapers to design and install a pollinator garden?

Answer: I wish there was an all-in-one resource to give you. I recommend buying your own plants and soil at a nursery and then paying someone to install them. You can see 2 designs on this website.

You can also use my presentation, Top 10 native plant lists for information on soil preparation, and on plants that have: (1) a long lasting bloom, (2) are rich nectar and pollen source, and (3) are drought and heat tolerant. These will also attract pollinators, and most are native to Houston.

Another great resource is the Native Plant Society of Texas. They provide recommendations for our Houston area Houston Area Native Plant Guide. They list plants specific to butterflies that will thrive and be drought-tolerant in Houston’s heat. 

I recommend buying plants from a nursery certified to not use pesticides. When you pick up your plants, pick up Microlife and organic compost to add around your new plants. It will give them a stronger start!

I get many questions about swarming bees. These are not native bees, they are non-native honey bees, and spring is the time of year when honey bees “swarm”.

Disclaimer: I work to conserve and educate people about native bees – honey bees are NOT native, plus they don’t give bees a good reputation since they sting and colonize and do intimidating things like swarm.

Honey bees swarm because a hive grew so big that it split: half of it stayed and half of it took a new queen to look for a new hive. Talk about bee drama, right?

What you’re seeing is worker bees clustering around the queen, or “festooning”, by linking their arms together to stay together. At this stage they are more docile since they do not have a hive to protect. You know those pictures on the internet of people covered in bees? It’s because they picked up a docile swarm. 

So what can you do? They will usually swarm for a day or three while scout bees locate a new residence, and then they will move on.

Or you can let interested beekeepers know you have a swarm. There is often a waiting list 100’s deep for a local swarm. Otherwise they have to order bees from another state that aren’t acclimated to Houston’s hot, humid paradise and won’t thrive.

If the swarm has started to establish a colony, professional beekeepers will know safe ways to remove them and avoid hazards (such as asbestos exposure from removing bees from walls of older homes, and from certain bee smokers/blowers). Be aware, honey combs that are cut out of old homes can contain rat feces, insect residue, lead paint, asbestos dust, fiberglass insulation, and sawdust.

Options:

1) You can contact your local/county beekeeping association. They will typically have a list on their site or send out a message to their members. The easiest way to do this is search Facebook for your city name and beekeeper’s association.

2) The Texas Beekeepers Association has a swarm removal page: http://texasbeekeepers.org/swarms/

3) Bee 2 Bee Honey has contacts for local Houston people they recommend. They also have FANTASTIC honey you can buy at the Urban Harvest Farmers’ Market every Saturday morning! https://bee2beehoney.com/pages/houston-bee-removal

4) Your city public works department may have recommendations on honey bee removal and wildlife control.

References

Bee Culture Magazine: https://www.beeculture.com/asbestos-warning-for-beekeepers/ 

Asbestos information: https://www.lanierlawfirm.com/mesothelioma/asbestos-exposure/products/ 

I receive questions about honey bees, such as restrictions on establishing hives in Texas, and the trend of urban beekeeping.

I defer to experts on these undeniably wonderful little creatures, and below are some resources helpful to me.

More than 95% of Texas lands are privately owned, so it is up to landowners to help native pollinators by using beneficial land management practices. Anything that will hurt honey bees will hurt native bees as well.

Because the honey bee is considered agriculturally important, there are certain allowances for managed colonies in Texas. In Houston beekeeping is legal within the city; there may be homeowner or neighborhood associations that ban beekeeping. In Texas, homeowners who host colonies on their properties can qualify for agricultural tax exemptions.

Relating to agriculture, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD): Due to its non-native status and potential impacts on natural communities, the honey bee is more appropriately managed as a semi-free ranging agricultural animal and not as a component of native wildlife or within the context of a wildlife management plan.

Actually, in 2021 Texas law added “a honey bee kept in a managed colony” to the definition of “farm animal.” As a farm animal, this allows beekeepers to raise the Farm Animal Liability Act as a defense for injury by honey bee during farm animal activity. (HB 365)  

There are restrictions on placement of managed colonies on public land. TPWD recognizes that while they are important, honey bees can negatively impact natural communities through competition for foraging resources, disease transmission to native bees, competition for nest sites with cavity-nesting birds, and the growth of feral honey bee colonies. TPWD: The placement of managed honey bee colonies on TPWD lands managed wholly or in part for native biodiversity is incompatible with the protection of native biodiversity and should be avoided (March 29, 2017).

“The edge that honey bees have over native bees is that we can attach a dollar amount to honey bees’ ecosystem services for both honey and pollination. Having a hive makes them portable and quantifiable. Apiarists can charge a flat rate per hive and know how much area a hive can pollinate and roughly how much honey that will result in.” Danielle Bilot, 2016 

References

Houston Beekeepers Association https://houstonbeekeepers.org/

Texas Beekeepers Association  https://texasbeekeepers.org/beelaws/

Texas A&M University, Apiary Inspection Services https://txbeeinspection.tamu.edu/regulations/

U.S. Department of Agriculture. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Import restrictions for honey bees:
https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/planthealth/import-information/permits/plant-pests/bees/honeybees-other

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD). Nongame and Rare Species Program. Native pollinator management guidelines:  https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/wild/wildlife_diversity/nongame/native-pollinators/

https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/wild/wildlife_diversity/nongame/native-pollinators/media/TPWD-Native-Pollinator-Management.pdf