How to Create a Pollinator-Friendly Container Garden

Create a pollinator garden in a container using a repurposed trashcan and native flowering plants. No matter the size or location, there are ways to beautify your space and support the local ecosystem.

For more tips also see How to Grow a Monarch Butterfly Garden.

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DIY Pollinator Garden in a Container

There are over 4,000 species of native bees in North America, and while supporting European honey bees is important, helping our native bees is even more so.

Bees are responsible for pollinating more than $20 billion dollars of food crops each year, and many species are suffering from population declines due to pesticide exposure, diseases, and habitat loss. Even urban gardeners will small patio gardens or containers can provide important habitat for these insects.

If every homeowner and apartment dweller built a Pollinator Can like this one, what a huge difference we’d make!

Excellent Host Plants for Bees

• Goldenrod
• Phacelia (Phacelia tanacetifolia)
• Culver’s root (Veronicastrum virginicum)
• Asters
• Bee balm
• Meadowsweet (Spirea alba)
• Boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum)
• Penstemon (Penstemon spp.)
• Coneflower
• Black-eyed Susans
• Sunflowers
• Agastache
• Globe thistle (Echinops spp.)
• Coreopsis
• Milkweed
• Mountain mint (Pycnanthemum spp.)
• Dill
• Oregano
• Nepeta (Nepeta spp.)
• Salvia

Materials Needed

• Large, 31-gallon galvanized trashcan
• Empty 5-gallon bucket
• Enough 50/50 potting soil and compost blend to fill the can
• 8 to 12 pollinator-friendly plants, selected from the list to the left
• 1 piece of untreated 2×4 lumber, 4 to 5 ft. long
• 30 to 50 natural bamboo garden stakes, 2 to 3 feet long
• 3 pieces of 2×6 lumber, 18-inch long. Cedar, redwood, or another untreated wood is best
• Wood glue
• 1 brick
• A small roll of aluminum hobby wire
• A piece of burlap, approximately 1-foot by 3-feet
• A roll of natural jute twine

Tools Needed

• Scratch awl
• Hammer
• Scissors
• Pruning shears
• Wire cutter
• Cordless drill with 5/16-inch and 7/16-inch twist bits

Step 1

Flip the trashcan upside down and hammer the awl through the bottom of the can in eight to ten places to create drainage holes.

Turn the can back over and locate it where it will receive eastern or southeastern exposure on its front.

Step 2

Place an upturned, empty 5-gallon bucket in the bottom of the trashcan. This will fill up some of the space and reduce the amount of potting soil/compost blend you’ll need.

Step 3

Stick one end of the 2×4 down in the can, propping it vertically between the 5-gallon bucket and the wall of the trashcan.

Fill the can three-quarters of the way to the top with the potting soil blend, straightening the 2×4, if necessary.

Step 4

Carefully slide the plants out of their pots and arrange them in the can, keeping the taller plants closest to the 2×4 and the shorter plants along the outder edge of the can.

Once happy with the placement of plants, loosen any pot-bound roots and fill the spaces in between the plants with more potting mix until the container is filled to within an inch of the top.

Leave a small, empty space somewhere close to the front edge of the can. Lay the brick in this space.

Step 5

Build the bee nesting block by gluing the three pieces of 2×6-inch lumber together with wood glue.

Allow the glue to dry for several hours, then drill holes into one cut end of the blocks, perpendicular to the wood’s grain.

To encourage diversity, alternate hole sizes by using both the 5/16-inch drill bit and the 3/16-inch drill bit to make holes approximately 4 to 5 inched deep spaced about 3/4-inch apart.

Do not drill all the way through the block as bees prefer to nest in closed-end tunnels.

Place the drilled nesting block on top of the brick positioned among the plants.

Make sure the holes are not blocked by any vegetation.

Step 6

Next, lay the piece of burlap on the ground and place the bundle of bamboo stakes in the center of it.

Use a pair of sharp pruners to cut the stakes to approximately 2-feet in length.

Use the wire cutters to cut two 18-inch-long pieces of aluminum hobby wire.

Wrap the wire around the bamboo stakes, one close to each end, to fasten them into a secure bundle.

Roll the burlap around the center of the bundle and use a piece of natural jute twine to secure it in place.

Step 7

Fasten the burlap-wrapped bundle of bamboo stakes to the top of the 2×4, using more jute twine.

Make sure the stakes are parallel to the ground and fairly level.

If any of the cut ends of the bamboo pieces are blocked with dried bamboo pulp, use the awl to clear out the debris and give the bees better access.

Step 8

Care for you new Pollinator Can by watering the plants regularly.

When winter arrives, do not cut the plants back or otherwise disturb them.

Some species of native bees may take shelter in the plant debris for the winter. Instead, do your cleanup when spring arrives, and the weather is consistently warm.

By then the bees will have emerged from their overwintering sites.

You can also replace any plants that didn’t it through the winter at that time.

Resources

Get the Book

More Projects

• Build a Chickadee Nesting Box

• Build a Raised Bed With Built-in Privacy Wall

• Make a Birdcage Planter

~Melissa the Empress of Dirt ♛