Pollinator Gardening
Start Your Own Pollinator Garden
Register it with the city to be exempt from overgrown vegetation ordinance
Planting a pollinator garden or naturalistic landscape helps bees, butterflies and other wildlife. It can also mean less mowing and fewer chemicals. Anyone can start their own pollinator garden of any size with just a few key plants. These habitats don't look as manicured or formal as traditional landscaped areas, but they serve an important purpose by restoring habitat for pollinators that are threatened by habitat loss, non-native species, climate change and various pesticides used in traditional landscapes
Register your Pollinator Garden or Naturalistic Landscape
If your pollinator habitat is well maintained and follows the City of Charlotte guidelines, it may qualify for an exemption from the overgrown vegetation ordinance (sec. 10-155). All you need to do is register your garden with the city, and you'll receive a yard sign that lets City of Charlotte- Code Enforcement know that your habitat is exempt.
Register your habitat
How to Start Your Own Pollinator Garden
The best time to plant your pollinator garden is in the fall, but early spring is OK as long the plants have enough time to get established before summer heat arrives.
Best Pollinator Plants for Beginners
The City's Role in Pollinator Gardening
Municipal landscaping traditionally involves maintaining vegetation on medians and along roadways, pruning trees in rights-of-way and planting trees and shrubs at city-owned buildings and city-built project sites.
But City of Charlotte Landscape Management has quietly ventured into something new: pollinator gardens. It all started in 2017 when a city staff member at Old City Hall approached Landscape Management about installing a natural area containing specific nectar- and pollen-producing plants that attract bees, butterflies and other pollinators.
Since then, Landscape Management has installed numerous pollinator gardens throughout the city and inspired other departments -- such as CATS and Aviation -- to do the same. These gardens are popping up everywhere, from the Third Ward neighborhood and Elmwood Cemetery to LYNX Blue Line stations. "The communities where we have installed them are very supportive. We're going to install as many as we can. The more we do, the better we get at it," said Vicki Aguilar, Assistant City Arborist.
"These gardens are a welcome addition to Landscape Management's portfolio, and they help toward meeting the city's sustainability goals," said Erin Oliverio, division manager for Landscape Management. "We want to encourage as many departments as we can to include them in their landscaping operations."