As a City, we place a high priority on our natural environment, just as residents do. While some local municipalities are joining in on No-Mow May, Eagan has a different approach to helping pollinators.
Our plan, which has been in place for more than a decade, centers on:
- planting native grasses and plants in parks and green spaces throughout the City,
- helping, promoting, or installing rain gardens in public, private, and even at City facilities,
- adding pollinator-friendly perennials and shrubs to our landscaping whenever we can,
- avoiding any chemicals that contain neonicotinoids.
Quick pro-pollinator tips for residents
- Raise the blade. Grass grows deeper and needs less maintenance when maintained around 3 inches tall.
- Plant native perennials and shrubs. Native plants require less maintenance, are hardy to the Minnesota climate!
- Keep it blooming. Choose plants for your garden with different bloom times so something is always flowering.
- Create safe spaces. Most of Minnesota’s native bee species are ground-nesters, preferring loose, undisturbed soil or otherwise bare patches of ground. Leave a patch of bare soil, or top-dress areas with leaf mulch or compost instead of wood chips
- Don’t panic, It’s organic! Manage invasive and aggressive weeds but use herbicides and pesticides as sparingly as possible. If you find a nuisance beehive, don’t spray it! There are lots of local resources who will relocate honeybee colonies for free.