Thought I'd post an update.
I didn't end up getting to as much pollinator gardening last year as I hoped, but I spent the last while gathering materials for this year. I collected some materials to add into the garden, and a bunch of seeds to fill it with.
Because a lot of the big healthy trees nearby are being cut down (park's being destroyed. Not happy...) I ended up retrieving a nice sized log today from the discards. I'm going to drill tunnels into it and tuck it under the raspberries for the carpenters. I think I'm going to go back and see if I can retrieve another for under my mystery shrub. Those construction workers ended up destroying my neighbor's fence as well, which was also constructed out of rough logs. Instead of repairing it, she decided to toss the remains, and offered if I wanted to look through the logs if I had a use for them. So I pulled out some of those as well. Those ones already have some holes through them that could be handy burrows, but I'm going to use them to line out an area of the yard to convert into the pollinator garden. Figure they'll make a nice border while providing more wood for the bees.
I thought it was a bit early, but I've already seen some honeybees roaming around, so I picked up a nice hyacinth to provide some food. I think I'm going to go back for a few more, as they seem to be enjoying them.
As for the area I'm going to dig out, I have a bunch of seeds to sow in there. I found a seed mix that contains New England Aster, Black Eyed Susan, Borage, Butterfly Weed, Corn poppy, Eastern Columbine, Forget-Me-Not, Perennial Gaillardia, Lance Leaf Coreopsis, Lemon Mint, Partridge Pea, Lupines, Purple Coneflower, Sweet Mignoette and Wild Bergamot. I got a second one with Alyssum, Daisy, Bachelor Buttons, Butterfly Weed, Candytuft, Columbine, Coneflowers, Coreopsis, Cosmos, Scarlet Flax, Marigold, Poppy and Wallflower.
I also picked up some Asclepias seeds to add in. Lastly, I'm going to build a new herb garden this year, so that'll provide some more plants for everyone to enjoy.
I'm kind of hoping some branches will end up in that discard pile so I can gather a few of those to put in the garden. I have some grasses to prune shortly, so I might keep some of the dry blades to pile somewhere as well.
I think that'll be a nice start.
On another note, I discovered some mud nests on my property today. I'm not sure who exactly they belong to, but nice to see them there anyways.
