Lawns to Legumes Leads to Shoreline Renovation AUGUST 2020 YARD AND GARDEN NEWSLETTER Article and photos submitted by Karen Wright, Minnesota River Valley Master Gardener August is National Water Quality Month, so I decided to write what I’m doing to help take care of watersheds and make them healthier. My interest in this came in early 2016 after we’d purchased a cabin on Lake Washington. Lake Washington is one of the largest lakes in southern Minnesota at 1,487 acres with 13.2 miles of shoreline. It has approximately 450 homes, with 80% of the residents living there full time, according to the Lake Washington Improvement Association. In the spring, the water was beautiful and clear and we could see the lake bottom. However, that didn’t last for long—as the summer progressed, the lake became murky green and didn’t smell so good. According to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, Lake Washington is classified as “impaired” and is among more than half of Minnesota’s lakes, rivers and streams that fail to meet water-quality standards for protecting aquatic life and human health. I knew I wanted to do something to help “fix” the problem, but what? The answer came in December 2019, when I came across online information about a program where one could apply for a grant for the Lawns to Legumes program. It originated from the State of Minnesota which passed legislation for a cost share program to help landowners transform their turf lawn into habitat that would benefit pollinators. I applied online through the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources and Blue Thumb (a public/private partnership promoting native plants, raingardens, shoreline stabilization projects and turf alternatives to reduce runoff and improve water quality), to create a more eco-friendly and sustainable landscape. My New Shoreline Pollinator Buffer Strip To cultivate a healthy water ecosystem, I planted a shoreline buffer garden which offers so much more than stabilization and erosion control. Native plants on the shoreline create a healthier aquatic environment by filtering pollutants from run-off water, while creating habitat that supports butterflies, pollinators © 2018 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved. University of Minnesota Extension is anand equal opportunitybirds. educator and employer. In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, this publication/material is available in alternative formats upon request. Direct requests to 612-624- 0772 or [email protected]. Printed on recycled and recyclable paper with at least 10 percent postconsumer waste material. Nearly 8,000 Minnesotan’s applied for the Lawns to Legumes according to James Wolfin, Sustainable Landcare Manager at Metro Blooms. He said, “The funding provided by the state of Minnesota grants will be provided to approximately 700-1200 residents over the course of this grant.” Lawns to Legumes provides workshops, free planting guides and opportunities to apply for reimbursement, which enables Minnesota residents to create pollinator habitat in their yards. It aims to empower Minnesota residents to help pollinators in their own yards. “Even relatively small plantings of native flowers, or beneficial trees and shrubs, can help create valuable conditions for pollinators and build important habitat corridors,” explained Wolfin. I qualified for a $350 grant (the max amount for an individual) for this cost-sharing program to purchase native plants, site prep, mulch, consultation, or basically whatever was needed. I was required to participate in a Blue Thumb “Resilient Yards” Webinar and connect with a coach (I had Shane Bugeja, Extension Educator for Blue Earth and Le Sueur Counties). To receive reimbursement, I am required to document my work with photos (many of which you see here), as well as provide receipts for what I’ve purchased and the amount of time spent on the project. There is a 25% match required for any funding received and it could be in the form of purchasing materials, hiring contractors, or in-kind time spent planting or maintaining plants. I have well- exceeded those parameters in time alone! I installed a “pocket planting” which is a smaller planting of native plants and grasses. This was the practice recommended for new gardeners and could be as small as 10 square feet to make a difference for Minnesota pollinators. My pocket planting is considerably larger and encompasses about 55 feet of lakeshore by three feet wide. To create my pollinator shoreline, I removed the turf grass along the shoreline with a shovel and considerable elbow grease! After it was planted, I used a bucket and got the water directly from the lake to maintain moisture levels to ensure the plants got well-established. I used grass clippings for mulch to keep the weeds down. Shoreline Planting with Natives I removed 55 feet of turf by hand and planted a pre- planned Native Shoreline Pollinator Garden. I watered it with water from the lake. I purchased native pollinator plants that are particularly attractive to our state bee, the Rusty Patched Bumble Bee, which is on the endangered list. The pre-planned garden I bought online from Prairie Nursery (I highly recommend) includes flowers that bloom from early in the spring through the fall which is critical to survival of the Rusty Patched Bumblebee. Native plants are the best thing that could happen to my shoreline. They have roots that can grow down to 16 feet, so they can retain and infiltrate A pre-planned garden was easy to install as long as I followed the chart- Karen Wright. more water, decrease soil compaction, filter out pollution and sequester carbon according to the University of Minnesota Extension. In addition, they are easier to grow and require fewer inputs (less mowing and watering, no fertilizer or pesticides), which leads to lower costs. And, of course, they also provide habitat for the pollinators. Had it not been for the grant, I’m not sure I’d have had the motivation to complete the project this year, and who knows when I would have gotten around to improving the shoreline for water health and for our pollinators! I hope to continue to plant the remaining shoreline to cover all 125 feet to enhance my efforts for clean water and pollinators. To learn how you can apply for a Lawn to Legumes Pre-planned Garden grant, go to: https://bwsr.state.mn.us/l2l from Prairie Nursery: I hope to expand my native planting to the entire 125 The plants in this kit are designed to filter runoff feet of shoreline and hope my neighbors will follow while promoting infiltration of water into the soil. suit. The flowers bloom from early spring into fall, important to the endangered Rusty Patched Bumble Bee. https://www.prairienursery.com/ CLOSE UP PHOTOS BY KAREN WRIGHT OF BLOOMS FOR THE POLLINATORS My neighbor’s “perfect” lawn—but it’s not eco- friendly Sources: Bjorhus, Jennifer. “State finds 56% of Minnesota's lakes and streams are 'impaired'”, Star Tribune, Nov. 13, 2019 Blue Thumb, https://bluethumb.org/ Lake Washington Improvement Association, https://www.lakewashingtonmn.com/ Lawns to Legumes Program, https://bwsr.state.mn.us/l2l Minnesota Extension, https://extension.umn.edu/find-plants/native-plants Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, Lake Monitoring, https://www.pca.state.mn.us/water/lake- monitoring-0 Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, https://www.pca.state.mn.us/water/water-quality- standards “Plants Favored by Rusty Patch Bumblebee”, Midwest Endangered Species: Rusty Patch Bumble Bee, U.S. Fish and Wildlife https://www.fws.gov/midwest/endangered/insects/rpbb/plants.html Prairie Nursery, https://www.prairienursery.com/ Wolfin, James, Sustainable Landcare Manager: Turf Alternatives. Metro Blooms, Minneapolis, Minn. Extension Corner By Shane Bugeja, County Extension Educator JAPANESE BEETLES: DO FOUR O’CLOCK FLOWERS HELP? Partially due to the mild winter, Japanese beetles (Popillia japonica) emerged unscathed in southern Minnesota. Once out and about, they quickly went to work scathing our plants. Hollyhock, basswood, and rose leaves turned into lace as the beetles chomped away. Folks Solarizationscrambled to In protect The Garden their gardens, bringing Solarizationout buckets Inof Thesoapy Garden water and spraying insecticides. Soon, a rumor emerged that there existed a flower which could not only halt the beetle’s garden invasion but kill them in the process. After some investigation, this mythical plant people talked about was the four o’clock, also called marvel-of-Peru (Mirabilis jalapa). Unfortunately, it appears a four o’clock would rather hit the “snooze” button Four o’clock flower. Photo by Petra Göschel than do battle with Japanese beetles. What are Four O’clocks? While perennial in their native habitat in South America, many Minnesota gardeners grow four o’clocks as an annual. Their unusual name likely relates to their blooms, which tend to open in the afternoon and evening. Soils that are well fertilized and drained are good spots to place them. Four o’clock flowers provide many clues to pollinators, with bright colored petals, a sweet smell, and nutritious nectar. You may also see more moths visit four o’clock. Indeed, back home in South America, hawk moths do most of the pollinating. You may even see some relatives of these insects in Minnesota! Is Four O’clock Really Toxic to Beetles? The origin of this myth is hard to pinpoint. Sites such as Pinterest and other gardening blogs often mention four o’clock as a control to Japanese beetles. Several state that University research proves this, but they do not provide links to these resources. Since Japanese beetles arrived in the US around the 1900’s, old books and journal articles could be a possible source of this idea. In a 1940 USDA pamphlet titled “The Japanese Beetle and Its Control,” four o’clock was listed as “never or rarely fed upon.” A later bulletin in 1963 upgraded the plant to one “lightly or moderately” eaten by Japanese beetles.