Thirsty Wings: How to Add a Pollinator Oasis to Your Garden

Thirsty Wings: How to Add a Pollinator Oasis to Your Garden

by | Jun 26, 2025

Summer is here, and with the rising temperatures, we all need to stay hydrated—including pollinators. These hardworking creatures are busy in your backyard, and being a good Midwestern neighbor means giving them a little help. One simple way? Offer a safe water source.

Adding a water feature to your balcony, patio, garden, or yard is an easy and effective way to support wildlife and help them thrive.

Why Pollinators Need Water

Bees, butterflies, and other invertebrates rely on water to stay hydrated—especially during hot, dry days. Social bees use water to regulate the temperature and humidity inside their hives. Butterflies and moths are often seen sipping from puddles, not just for hydration but also to absorb minerals and nutrients—a behavior known as puddling.

You may even notice small bees or butterflies landing on you to sip your sweat. They’re not just being curious—they’re searching for moisture, salt, and other nutrients. Bees also use water to dilute stored honey and aid in digestion.

What About Natural Water Sources?

Sure, there are natural water sources like ponds and rivers, but for an insect, those look like vast oceans. A bee or butterfly venturing too close to a pond might get eaten by a fish—or drown if there’s no safe landing spot.

Historically, puddles and dewdrops served as safer alternatives. But today, many puddles contain runoff from roads and lawns, often contaminated with pesticides or other toxins. In cities, puddles evaporate quickly on hot concrete, and even moist soil is hard to come by.

What Can You Do?

Creating a safe water source for pollinators is simple and rewarding. Start by choosing a good location—if you’re on a balcony or deck, place your water dish near potted plants. In a yard, look for spots with high insect activity, such as near a log pile, compost area, or bare soil. Use a shallow container like a dish, plate, or birdbath, and fill it with water. To make it safe, add pebbles, marbles, or small sticks so pollinators have a place to land and perch while they drink, preventing them from drowning. Be sure to keep the water fresh by changing it every couple of days, which also helps prevent mosquitoes from breeding. 

Add a Pond

If you have some space, consider installing a pond for a larger-scale impact. A small backyard pond can support a surprising amount of biodiversity, such as birds, frogs, and rabbits.  You don’t need a big yard or fancy equipment to build one. With a bit of planning, some basic materials, and a little time, you can create a thriving mini-ecosystem right outside your door.

Start by choosing a location that gets partial sunlight—too much sun encourages algae, while too little limits plant growth. Avoid areas where rain runoff collects, as it may carry pollutants like pesticides.

Next, dig a shallow hole with gently sloping sides and varying depths (12–24 inches is ideal). Include a shallow shelf or area near the edge where insects and birds can safely access water. Line the pond with a flexible pond liner or use a pre-formed plastic basin. Secure the edges with rocks, bricks, or soil to keep it in place.

Fill the pond with water, ideally rainwater. If using tap water, let it sit for a day or two to allow chlorine to dissipate. Add rocks, logs, or branches around and in the pond to provide perches and hiding spots. Make sure there’s a gentle ramp or slope so animals can get in and out easily.

Include native aquatic plants, like duckweed, pickerelweed, or blue flag iris. They help oxygenate the water, provide shade, absorb excess nutrients (which prevents algae), and create habitat. Avoid adding fish, as they can eat tadpoles, insect larvae, and eggs.

You can also add a small fountain or dripper. Moving water helps keep mosquitoes away and oxygenates the pond. Just make sure it’s gentle—pollinators and frogs prefer calm areas.

Once set up, let nature take over. Within days, you can spot dragonflies, bees, or even frogs visiting your new mini-ecosystem. Keep the pond free of chemicals and avoid over-cleaning—natural debris helps balance the habitat.

A small pond can have a big impact. With just a little effort, you can turn a corner of your yard into a thriving wildlife refuge.

Now get out in your yard and help save the pollinators!

Resolutions to Help Pollinators

Resolutions to Help Pollinators

by | Jan 6, 2025

A new year means new resolutions! My personal resolutions are to build garden boxes out of reclaimed bricks and seed native plants in my backyard. There are many other things you can do to support pollinators this year.

Become a Wildlife Gardener

Choosing a patch (big or small) of turf grass to transform into a beautiful native garden is a great way to help native wildlife and pollinators. To help pollinators you should plant species that bloom in the Spring, Summer, and Fall to ensure there are nectar resources year-round.

Some of my favorite native plants are Purple Prairie Clover, Golden Alexander, and Bee Balm!

Create Nesting Sites

You can create natural nesting sites by leaving logs on the ground to break down or leaving your cut plant stems in the fall. Brush piles can also provide a great nesting area. Bee hotels can also create needed nesting sites for our pollinators although they require careful maintenance to keep disease and mite numbers low.  

Snowberry Clearwing Moth

70% of our native bees are ground-nesting. Help them out by creating access to patches of bare soil and avoiding tilling while they nest. Another way to help ground-nesting bees is to consider mulching with compost instead of wood bark mulch – it has many of the same benefits such as weed suppression, and water retention, yet allows for nesting and improves your soil! 

Some pollinators only lay their eggs on specific host plants. For example, the Monarch butterfly’s host plant is Milkweed.

Another is the Regal Fritillary with their host plant, Violets.

Planting specific host plants for pollinators is another great way to create habitat! 

Reducing Pesticide Use

Reducing pesticide use has a HUGE impact on local wildlife health! Whether it is insecticides, herbicides, rodenticides, or fungicides, they hurt and can kill beneficial insects like pollinators. They are designed to kill, and they do that well. Pesticides can also become dangerous runoff when it rains and wash away into rivers or waterways. 

According to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, American homeowners use up to ten times more chemical pesticides per acre on their lawns than farmers use on crops. You will need less pesticide if you create better soil health by composting, aerate the soil so insects have an easier time incorporating organic matter, and use Integrated Pest Management (IPM).

There are plenty of alternatives to using pesticides in your garden. 

Here are some options:

  • Use your hands the old-fashioned way! I love getting my hands dirty when I garden. It makes me feel connected to nature.
  • Add barriers like fencing or mesh to keep pests off of your plants.

Be mindful by only using pesticides when absolutely necessary. These are times like battling invasive species or infestations. Use targeted chemicals for specific issues and avoid broad-spectrum or systemic pesticides that harm everything they come in contact with.

Create a Water Source

Pollinators need water too! Bees use water to help regulate the temperature of their hive and feed their young. Bees can’t swim so it is important that any water source you create is shallow and has some sort of hard surface scattered in it. You can make your own pollinator watering station easily.

You can use a bird bath if only add a little water and add rocks.

You can also use a hummingbird feeder filled with regular tap or rain water! No need to add anything. The bees will gather on the fake flowers and drink to their heart’s content. Hummingbirds will also still visit for a quick drink.

If you have rocks or glass marbles you can fill any container with them and a little water. This gives pollinators plenty of places to stand and drink from.

If you want a self-filling watering hole, you can even use a gravity-fed pet feeder. Just add rocks to the bottom bowl to prevent drowning.