Thousands of homeowners apply for Minnesota funding to turn lawns into bee-friendly habitats

Lawns across Minnesota will become a little more colorful and wild this spring after several thousand residents applied for state funding to plant wildflowers, shrubs and other prime bumblebee habitat in their yards.

The state’s Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) will select the first 500 or so homeowners this week to receive funding under the trial program, which will pay residents up to $350 to plant pollinator gardens or convert their traditional grass lawns to more bee-friendly yards. Interest has been high enough that the state will keep accepting applications online until early June, said Dan Shaw, senior ecologist for BWSR.

Read entire article here: http://www.startribune.com/thousands-of-homeowners-apply-for-minnesota-funding-to-turn-lawns-into-bee-friendly-habitats/568642712/