Make Your Yard a Pollinator Pathway!

What is a Pollinator Pathway?

A Pollinator Pathway is a collaborative network of public & private pesticide-free, native plant corridors that provide essential habitat, food, and shelter for bees, butterflies, birds, and other insects. These projects connect fragmented green spaces, such as residential gardens, parks, and schoolyards, allowing pollinators to travel safely. Even the smallest green spaces, like flower boxes and curb strips, can be part of a pathway.

How Pollinator Pathway (the Nonprofit Organization) Got Started

In 2016, environmentalist Donna Merrill of Wilton, Connecticut was working as part of the Hudson-to-Housatonic Regional Conservation Partnership (H2H) and was tasked with creating a community land stewardship project. She read about a conservation corridor project linking pollinator waystations and decided to try the idea. Merrill offered neighbors between South Salem, New York and Ridgefield, Connecticut free native dogwood trees, funded by H2H, to help create connected pollinator habitat, and it was a huge success.

Next, she convened a group in Wilton in 2017 and proposed doing something similar through town. From this initial group, Donna led its transformation to a 501(c)(3) corporation in 2021, which today has groups and individuals protecting critical pollinator habitat in 46 of the 50 states.

Pollinator Pathway has a Board of Directors, which works to support the network of community projects via social media and by managing its website, and by publishing quarterly newsletters and hosting regular free webinars, helping new Pathways get started, connecting people to Pathways near them, and advocating for policy that protects pollinators and pollinator habitat. It also has a six member Advisory Board composed of experts in the fields of pollinator conservation and horticulture.

Community Pollinator Pathway projects are organized by volunteers from local conservation organizations working together to establish pollinator-friendly habitat (native pollinator-friendly plants, no pesticides or chemical fertilizers) and food sources for bees, butterflies, hummingbirds and other pollinating insects and wildlife along a series of continuous corridors. Most native bees have a range of about 750 meters, so the goal is to connect properties that are no farther apart than that.

Why are Pollinator Pathways Important?

Without pollinators, we can’t feed ourselves. Pollination enables the plants in our yards, parks, farms, & orchards to reproduce. Imported European honeybees are the bees we think of most often, but there are over 4000 species of bees native to the United States, and they play a vital role in pollinating the plants we rely on in our communities.

Pollinator populations are in sharp decline because of pesticide use and loss of habitat, exacerbated by climate change. Bee populations, both native and honeybees, have seen sharp declines. Monarch butterflies have declined by over 90% in the last 20 years, according to the National Wildlife Federation.

Because the Pollinator Pathway “de-fragments” the environment,it benefits our ecosystem as a whole. Our landscape has been fragmented through urban and suburban development. The problem is, we can no longer support sustainable populations of wildlife in our isolated parks & preserves alone.

But if we begin to manage our own yards organically with native plantings, we can use them to connect parks & preserves, creating crucial corridors for wildlife.

Why do native plants matter?

Our local pollinators have evolved to depend on our local plants. Native caterpillars & bees can’t use trees from China or Japan. The monarch butterfly must have the milkweed plant to survive. Without it, there will be no monarchs, and we don’t typically put these “weeds” in our yards. They have also been eradicated from fields by farmers, and now the monarch is in danger of extinction.

Key Components of a Pollinator Pathway

The Goal of a Pollinator Pathway is to reverse the decline of pollinators by creating continuous, safe corridors in urban and suburban areas, often bridging distances that native bees cannot travel on their own. Participants plant native, nectar-rich host plants while avoiding the use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers. Ranging from small, individual residential flower boxes and curb strips to larger, interconnected municipal land, the project spans over 300 US communities. These pathways provide necessary resources for pollinators to thrive, supporting biodiversity and restoring native ecosystems.

What You can Do in Your Yard

Create a way-station for pollinators by planting native pollinator-friendly trees, shrubs, and perennials. Provide a source of clean water. Leave some dead wood & dirt patches for nesting bees.

Rethink your lawn. Leave the clippings on the grass as fertilizer rather than adding chemicals. Leave the leaves, many pollinators overwinter in leaf matter. Use slow-release organic fertilizers or none at all. Reduce lawn size by adding native plants. Mow less often.  Don’t use pesticides!

Franklin County Pollinator Pathway

Franklin County Pollinator Pathway (FCPP) is a local affiliate of the national Pollinator Pathway network. Its goal is to connect people & pollinator habitat in Franklin County. It works to expand pesticide-free corridors of native plants across Franklin County, linking yards, parks, schools, businesses, and community spaces so pollinators have safe, connected habitat.

In 2024, it established as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization so it could expand its work through public & private grant funding and bring more pollinator & native plant habitats to Franklin County. Our Board of Directors is made up of seven community members: Craig Toothman, Michael Keeler, Lynette Overholser, Carolyn Watkins, Dan Roth, Cathy Tiffany, and Tyler Dennis.

The FCPP has adopted the pollinator garden at Grange Insurance Audubon Center. Prep work in spring 2025 included clearing out the weeds and invasives from the garden bed. In June 2025, it planted over 300 native plants and 28 different species.  It has also worked with the Northwest Christian Church in Upper Arlington to install a new native rain garden.