Readers React: Our home gardens do bees no favors

To the editor: Kudos to The Times editorial board for encouraging us to foster the well-being of native bees and other native pollinators by planting drought-tolerant flowering plants. (“Want to help the bee populations? Grow a variety of flowers,” editorial, June 15)

Now what the board needs to do is lobby for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to change the rules for its turf replacement rebate program to limit the use of artificial turf by requiring that some portion of the area (50% minimum) be planted with non-invasive, drought-tolerant flowering plants.

Or better still, eliminate the rebate for artificial turf altogether.

Katherine Hammer, Venice

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To the editor: As long as plant nurseries and every major home improvement store like Home Depot sell toxic pesticides to home gardeners, we will not recover our urban native bee populations.

Not only are many pesticides hidden under the guise of “flower care,” they can also be present in the pre-treated plants now available for consumers to buy and plant in their gardens.

Home gardeners do not need pollinator-killing pesticides, which should be banned.

Sidney Higgins, Silver Lake

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