How to Plant a Garden for Birds and Pollinators

In this video, Jenn Nawada, landscape designer for Ask This Old House, helps a homeowner turn her front yard into a garden that will attract birds and pollinators in Washington, D.C.

Steps for Planting a Pollinator Garden

1. Clear the area where you’d like to plant the garden, perform a soil test, and amend soil as necessary.
2. Choose plants and lay them out in a design you like before you start digging.
3. Be sure to call a local gas utility before you dig to ensure you don’t hit an underground gas line.
4. Using a digging shovel, dig holes almost as deep as the container for each plant and a little bit wider.
5. Take the plant out of the container and tease out the root ball.
6. Place each plant in its hole and fill it with a mixture of planting soil and leftover existing soil.
7. Spread out mulch around plants about 2 to 3 inches thick, keeping it away from the base of the plant so as not to smother it.
8. Give the newly planted garden a long soak of water and check it once a day to see if it needs more water.

On one This Old House pollinator garden project, the team converted a plain lawn that ran right up to the house into a vibrant native planting bed, removing invasive species like Rose of Sharon and replacing them with native perennials and shrubs. Stepping stones were laid through the center of the bed as a garden path, providing easy access for ongoing maintenance — a smart move, especially for first-time gardeners working within a budget.

Planting in Groups: For maximum visual impact in your pollinator garden, plant in groups of threes or fives. As one This Old House landscape expert explains: “It makes more of an impact when the plant just grows together as one big plant. Instead of putting one here, one here, one here… it’s more of a visual impact.” Grouping also helps pollinators locate their favorite blooms more easily.

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