Submitted Photo Pictured is a pollinator garden at Dakota College at Bottineau. The college has received certification as a New Wildlife Habitat Garden by the National Wildlife Federation.

Dakota College at Bottineau’s campus has received certification by The National Wildlife Federation as a New Wildlife Habitat Garden, according to information provided by the college.

Apryl Mawby, farm manager at Dakota College at Bottineau, said the certification recognizes things Dakota College has been doing all along. To receive certification, a garden needs to provide natural sources of food, water, cover, places to raise young and should be taken care of in a sustainable way.

Mawby said the college grows flowers in spring, summer and fall that provide nectar and pollen to native bees, butterflies, and other pollinator insects. The pollinator garden on the west side of the college’s Knudson Center contains milkweed, which is a food source and habitat for monarch caterpillars. The flower beds on campus are mulched using wood chips from trees that had to be taken down. The mulch decays and provides fertilizer. During the winter months, the vegetation is left until late in the season and lets insects live in the hollow stems of plants and decaying leaves. Animals such as rabbits, squirrels, and birds can then search for food amid the drying seed heads and foliage.

Trees in the campus arboretum also provide a habitat for wildlife and a creek runs along the east side of the campus that provides a water source.

Mawby said members of the community also enjoy walking through the campus. In the next 10 years, the college plans to develop an agri-forestry walking path that will go through the campus and enable people to explore different areas and see all the plants that are grown there.

Habitat gardens are part of the National Wildlife Federation’s Million Pollinator Garden Challenge and its efforts to provide living space for butterflies and bees and other insects that have been declining, according to information provided by the college. More information on the program can be found at www.nwf.org/certify