The very thought of ripe and juicy watermelons makes my mouth water! But humans aren’t the only ones that enjoy munching on these delicious fruits!
Guess who else is fond of them? Pollinators! And our gardens desperately need these little beneficial creatures.
You may not be into sharing your food, but trust me, once you learn all the benefits a watermelon can provide, I’m sure you’ll change your mind.
So, what exactly should you do?
Just Leave ONE Slice Of Watermelon In Your Garden During The Day – That’s ALL It Takes
It can’t be that simple, can it? Oh yes, it most certainly can! If you grow plants that require pollination, I know how tempting it can be to attract pollinators.
The scent and sweet flavor of watermelon slices will draw in butterflies, bees, and even hummingbirds.
I’ve witnessed firsthand how much butterflies enjoy sipping on delicious watermelon juice. They spend even more time in my garden since I’ve started using this amazing hack.
This year, I took things to a whole new level and made a watermelon feeder. I drilled a hole in the rind and secured it to a tree using a string. It’s firing on all cylinders!
Since pollinators also enjoy other fruits, such as bananas and oranges, you can spice things up and combine them with watermelon slices.
But Beware Of These Potential Risks!
Of course, this hack isn’t cut and dried; there are a few things you need to consider before leaving watermelon slices in your garden.
Do we want to attract pollinators? Yes. Do we want to attract raccoons and opossums? NO! Well, it might happen since these notorious creatures also like to feed on watermelons.
Is there a solution to this? 🤔
Only use the watermelon hack during the daytime! Once the sunset approaches, I recommend removing the slices (or what’s left of them) to avoid attracting bigger critters.
The second problem is ants. They definitely won’t reject free food, so you’ll need to protect the slices. And the easiest way to do this is to put the watermelon in a shallow dish filled with clean water.
And the third problem is bees and wasps. Wait, aren’t these pollinators, too? Yes, and we need them in our gardens. However, if you have small children and pets, having a lot of bees and wasps may not be the ideal scenario. Safety first, right?
You can’t really fix this issue but you always have other options, such as growing flowers or cover crops that attract pollinators.
Who could’ve thought sharing some watermelon slices is such a simple way to get more pollinators? That’s just what our gardens crave!