The hum of bees buzzing about the garden is one of the delightful pleasures of summer and creating a bee-friendly garden is such a fun and easy thing to do.
Follow my top tips for bee-friendly gardening and you’ll be supporting these marvellous creatures for generations to come.
Bees have been making headlines recently because their numbers are in serious decline.
This is a problem because bees are important pollinators of flowers and crops that support not only us humans but UK wildlife as well.
The main cause of this decline is habitat loss, which is depriving bees of the food sources and nesting sites that they need to thrive.
These are areas in which gardeners can make a big difference!
Bee-friendly flowers
Planting bee-friendly flowers in your garden creates new nectar and pollen sources, helping to feed them and their young. So, which flowers should you choose?
First up, they love purple.
Purple is the colour that they see best, and purple flowers are usually chock-full of nectar and pollen, making them a great food source.
A favourite of mine is Echinops (Globe thistle).
This plant has striking orbs of bristly purple flowers that bees just can’t seem to get enough of.
Another old favourite is the fantastically scented Lavendula angustifolia (English lavender).
Lavender grows excellently in UK gardens and seems rarely to be without the company of these pollinators in summer.
Buddleias, too, are another perennial purple flower favourite, not only with the bees but also with the butterflies.
Since they are so unfussy, Buddleias will grow well in almost any garden, making them a great choice for wildlife-friendly gardeners.
However, these pollinators don’t just like purple flowers, of course.
They find nectar sources not only by looking for coloured petals, but also by sniffing them out with their feet! This means that these little creatures can be found buzzing around anything that is rich in nectar.
Unfortunately, this doesn’t mean that anything you plant will be good for them, though. Some of the beautiful blooms that are on sale have been bred for their looks rather than their pollen and nectar production.
This means that while they may look incredible, these are not great food sources.
Plants that are fit the bill for their prettiness and practicality are easy to find though.
The tall stems of Digitalis (foxgloves), attractive flower clusters of Lonicera (honeysuckle), and dainty blooms of Fuschia are all fantastic.
Their trumpet-shaped flowers also make it easy for landing.
The delicate stems of Erysium (Wallflower) look great, are a big hit and come in a variety of colours.
Look for the daring pink petals of the ‘Bowles’ Mauve’ variety or the vibrant orange flowers of ‘Apricot Twist,’ to add oomph to sunny borders and feed them simultaneously!
Another option is to grow herbs in your garden and let some of the stems flower.
Some fantastic herbs that will do the job include:
Salvia officianlis (Sage), Allium schoenoprasum (Chives), Thymus vulgaris (Thyme) and Origanum vulgare (Oregano).
This is a great option if you’re short on space, since herbs needn’t take up much room. Plant them in a window box or in a trough on a balcony and watch as the local bees seek them out.
A bonus of herbs, of course, is that you can use them in your cooking or to flavour a cocktail after a day’s hard graft in the garden—what more could you ask for?
When you’re planting for our buzzing friends, be aware that some flowers are toxic to them.
In particular, research by Kew Gardens shows that Rhododendron nectar poisons honeybees, but that honeybees will still continue to visit these plants.
Don’t panic if you already have Rhododendron bushes in your garden.
However, if your aim is to create a bee-haven, then it is a good idea to avoid planting your bee-friendly area next to your Rhododendron bushes!
Take a look at the RHS’s list of ‘Plants for Pollinators’ or look for their ‘Plants for Pollinators’ logo on plant labels.
Planting a mixture of early, mid-season and late flowering plants is ideal to ensure there is a constant food supply throughout the season.
Bee-friendly pest control
Another reason for the decline in the bee population is the use of toxic pesticides. So, as a gardener, another great thing you can do is use pest control measures that are safe for the productive pollinators.
If you can, avoid pesticides labelled ‘systemic’ or ‘translocated’ since these are toxic to bees.
If you must use them, not spraying them on open blooms where bees land is a small measure that will make a big difference.
There are also lots of natural pest control measures that are very bee-friendly.
A solution of garlic and white wine vinegar sprayed onto to plants is a great way to protect them from aphids, whitefly and leaf-chewing beetles.
Alternatively, plant Calendulas (Marigolds) or Nasturtium around your plants. Aphids hate the smell of Marigolds and will stay away…
…while aphids and caterpillars both love chomping on Nasturtium so much that they will eat them over other nearby flowers!
Biological controls (that is, the introduction of predatory creatures that prey upon pests) are another option that can be effective, especially in a greenhouse where the creatures can be contained.
You can use them to control everything from whitefly to red spider mite, slugs to scale insects.
Since none of these creatures also preys on bees they are a perfectly bee-safe method.
These days, you can order biological controls online and get them delivered straight to your door.
Hotels and nesting sites
There are over 270 species of bee in Britain, and over 200 of these are solitary species that nest on their own and support their larvae single-handedly. Habitat destruction is wreaking havoc for them by depriving them of nesting sites.
As a gardener, it’s easy to support solitary types by providing them with new nesting sites in your garden.
Wool carders, Leafcutters and Red masons are all common types that will make use of bee hotels.
These are easy and fun to make using hollow bamboo canes, which is a great activity for involving the kids.
Alternatively, you can buy bug hotels from the garden centre.
Another thing you can do is leave a patch of your grass to go wild.
This provides nesting sites for solitary bees that nest in tussocks.
Red-tailed black bumblebees, Brown carder bees and Shrill carder bees will all nest in grass, given the chance.
In case you’re worried, solitary bees like these are extremely docile and rarely sting, so they are very child and pet safe creatures to have in your garden.
So, there’s absolutely buckets you can do to help our bees to recover and thrive. And, since they are responsible for producing 1 in every 3 bites of the food we eat, helping the bees is also helping ourselves!
David Domoney is a Chartered Horticulturalist, Broadcaster, and Author. David has worked with a number of the UK’s leading garden retailers as a plant buyer and strategic consultant. With more than 30 years experience, in horticulture, David is as passionate about plants now as he was when he bought his first plant at a village fete.
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