Practical tips
Do you have a garden? Here are some tips to make it blossoming and buzzing and to get to know its living beings. You don't have a garden? A balcony can also do its job! Chose where you want to start from!
On the website of the Natur Im Garten movement you can find and download information to learn about natural gardening:
For example you can learn how to create a flower-rich meadow:
https://www.naturimgarten.at/files/content/files/blumenwiesen-anlegen-wiesen-wiki.pdf
You can learn about natural gardens also on the Natur Verrückt website. There is also a possibility to receive advice and order a copy of the printed practical guide:
https://www.naturverrueckt.de/
To create a meadow that supports insect pollinators you should plant specific plant species. Here are some of them that are suitable for Vinschgau:
Aconitum napellus, Achillea millefolium, Ajuga reptans, Anthyllis vulneraria, Campanula rotundifolia, Centaurea scabiosa, Cichorium intybus, Coronilla varia, Daucus carota, Geranium pratense, Hypericum perforatum, Knautia arvensis, Lathyrus pratensis, Leucanthemum vulgare, Lotus corniculatus, Medicago lupulina, Medicago falcata, Potentilla reptans, Prunella grandiflora, Ranunculus bulbosis, Rumex acetosa, Salvia pratensis, Scabiosa columbaria, Sedum album, Taraxacum officinale, Trifolium pratense, Trifolium repens, Verbascum thapsus, Vicia cracca.
To support the local biodiversity, it is important that these plants come from seeds that are native to the place where you want to create the meadow. At the moment, there is a lack of such seeds in South Tyrol, but there are actors who are working on collecting them. Here you can read more about native seeds:
https://www.localfloraseed.com/pdf/naturschutzblatt-03-2019-suedtirolsbuntewiesenlandschaft.pdf
You may want to create a meadow before native seeds become available in your area. In this case, inform yourself about the origin of the available seeds and whether they are annual, biennial or perennial. You could ask an expert from the Naturmuseum Südtirol. If you plant non-native seeds, make sure they are annual, so they don't establish permanently in your area – this may harm the local biodiversity. If you want to wait till native seeds become available in Vinschgau, you could get in touch with us in 2024. We hope there will be good news!
To discover whether one species is native or not to a certain area in South Tyrol, you could use the FloraFauna tool. Beside plants, you can also search for insects and other animals:
Species-rich Meadows
On the following websites you can find many resources to learn about wild bees:
For example you can learn about nesting facilities and how to make them:
https://www.wildbienen.info/artenschutz/nisthilfen_02a.php
You can also do it by following this guide:
https://www.naturimgarten.at/files/content/files/wildbienen.pdf
Here instead, you can discover more about butterflies and learn how to support them:
https://www.naturimgarten.at/files/content/files/schmetterlinge.pdf
Through the iNaturalist application you can not only learn about insect pollinators and other beings, but also participate to their monitoring as a citizen scientist:
On the Hortus Insectorum website you can learn more about natural gardening and how to make your vegetable garden more welcoming for insects:
Pollinators
Get to know other-than-human beings that you encounter in the meadow or elsewhere, by using the following Apps:
Apps for plant identification:
Plant Net
https://plantnet.org/en/
Flora Incognita
Apps for insect identification:
Picture Insect
Seek
https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/seek_app
Leps by Fieldguide
https://leps.fieldguide.ai/figures
App for identification of different species:
iNaturalist
Identification Apps
And it doesn't end here...
Are you searching for more?
Do you know other resorurces and tools that may help people like you to learn more about species-rich meadows and pollinators, and how to care for them?