A group of students from the Woodstock Middle School plant a native pollinator strip at East End Park

Have you heard of the windshield phenomenon? This phenomenon is the widespread observation that fewer bugs collect on the front windshields and bumpers of cars than they used to pre-2000. Drivers used to stop multiple times during long summer trips to wipe off the bugs on their windshields. When was the last time you can remember having to do that?

The windshield phenomenon is backed up by science. There really are fewer insects now than there once were. And when these insects disappear, so do the animals that rely on them. As bugs decline, so do lizard, frog, bat, and bird populations. One in four birds, or nearly 3 billion, have already disappeared since 1970.

What is causing this decline? Global warming, which shifts nature’s cycles, is playing a big role in throwing pollinators and the animals that rely on them off their synchronized rhythms. Pesticide and fertilizer use, light pollution, chemical pollution, habitat loss, and industrial agriculture also play a role. Vermont is happily ahead of the curve compared to other states; in 2024 legislators passed a bill that restricts the largest uses of neonicotinoid or “neonics,” which are insecticides that are largely banned in Europe due to their harmful effects on pollinators.

This spring Sustainable Woodstock has been working with Stephanie of Wilde Bee Farm on the “Ways to Rewild” project. Together, we are planting a series of pollinator gardens around Woodstock. The goal of this project is to show the different ways to rewild spaces, from smaller more traditional pollinator gardens, to larger wild looking spaces.

Would you like to add pollinator habitat to your outdoor space? Are you not sure how to transition from the existing landscape? Are you concerned that a pollinator habitat is too wild or would require too much space? This project aims to demonstrate that one size does not fit all and seeks to encourage habitat experimentation in a way that works in a variety of settings.

You can check out the details on what plants are being planted on her website. Stephanie has created detailed plant lists with characteristics and a bloom cycle chart for these spaces, which visually show the blooming periods of various plants. You’ll notice that the plants’ bloom times overlap so pollinators always have something flowering as a food source.

Thank you to Stephanie for her work designing these spaces, and for the hundreds of plants she has donated! We’ll keep you updated as the gardens begin to bloom. Stay tuned for a pollinator garden tour this August.