Plan a Bee-Friendly Garden

, written by Benedict Vanheems gb flag

Bee on a flower

There’s no better sound than a garden alive with the industrious buzz of bees. Gardeners owe a lot to these hard-working pollinators – without them we wouldn’t be able to grow many of the fruits and vegetables we take for granted, so it’s worth including a few simple but highly effective elements in your garden to attract these essential insects.

Why Bees Need Our Help

In many parts of the world bees and other pollinators, such as butterflies, are in decline. The reasons are complex but include modern agricultural techniques, the spread of towns and cities, and the loss of natural habitat such as wildflower meadows.

Bees provide a vital service by pollinating the plants that produce much of the food we eat. They also pollinate the wild flowers that feed the insects that fuel the food chain. By helping bees we’re helping wildlife – and ourselves.

Bee on lavender

How Gardeners Can Help Bees

Combined, our gardens make up a vast area of green space. In towns and cities they provide corridors of plant life that are vital for urban wildlife. By creating bee-friendly spaces within our gardens, we can help to support vulnerable populations while enjoying better harvests.

Tip 1: Choose bee-friendly flowers

Bee-friendly flowers draw in pollinators, putting your garden firmly on their map. Plan for a succession of flowers, so as one finishes another starts off. By providing a constant supply of pollen and nectar for bees to feed on, you’ll keep bees on site year round.

There are no hard and fast rules about what to plant, but opt for flowers rich in pollen and nectar. This usually means choosing single flowers over double flowers. Providing a wide range of flowers in your garden, including many trees and shrubs, will provide a bigger banquet for your bees.

Plants that bloom early in the year offer food for bees emerging from hibernation. Suitable plants include willows, hawthorn, the blossom of fruit trees such as apples, cherries and plums, and plants such as crocus and aubretia.

Excellent summer bloomers include clover, calendula, borage, and the appropriately named poached egg plant. Towards the end of the year make sure there are late-season flowers available, such as aster, echinacea and common ivy. These are just some of the many bee-friendly flowers available.

Herbaceous border

Tip 2: Plant flowers strategically

Most bee-friendly flowers prefer a sunny, sheltered location. Grow plants in blocks or swathes to maximise their useful impact for bees.

Our Garden Planner includes a selection of flowers proven to attract beneficial insects to your plot. Simply click on ‘flowers’ or ‘herbs’ in the selection bar drop-down filter to list some popular options. Clicking on the information button reveals the plant’s description, including its suitability for attracting pollinators.

Include flowers within your fruit and vegetable plot – either at the margins, at the ends of beds or among crops as companion plants. Remember that flowering vegetables such as beans will also attract bees. Use the Garden Planner to select, drop and then drag rows and blocks of flowers to size in your plan, making them an integral part of your cropping plan.

Tip 3: Go wild!

Allowing some corners of your garden to go a little wild will provide valuable habitat for bees. For example, in winter leave grass to grow longer and the hollow stems of perennials uncut to offer additional shelter. Many wild plants, such as dandelions and thistles are a rich source of nectar and pollen, while the likes of nettles and brambles provide food for the larvae of pollinating butterflies.

Cutting lawns less frequently also enables low-growing lawn flowers such as clover and daisies to flower for longer, which means more foraging opportunities for bees. Apply this hands-off approach to your entire lawn or to specific areas.

Daisies and buttercups growing in a lawn

Tip 4: Provide bee habitat

Wild bees nest in a range of locations, including small holes left by other animals, in sheltered nooks and crannies such as within a compost heap, or among thick tufts of grass. Stay vigilant and avoid disturbing nests or hibernation sites.

Buy or build your own bee hotels to provide further habitat for many types of bumble and solitary bees. Make your own by gathering bundles of hollow stems, canes and twigs and packing them into a watertight outer casing, or drill different-sized holes into a block of untreated wood – between 2mm and 10mm, or one-tenth to half an inch across. Position bee hotels in sheltered locations, away from the worst of the winter weather.

Tip 5: Avoid chemicals in the garden

Gardeners in tune with nature really shouldn’t have to use chemical pesticides or weed killers. These unnatural controls both directly and indirectly impact beneficial wildlife, disrupting the food chain, depleting populations of pollinators and pest predators as well as pests, and thereby locking the gardener into a dependency on further chemicals. Instead, opt for natural pest controls, including netting, garden fleece or mesh barriers and companion plants, and natural weed controls such as regular hoeing and mulching.

Bees are the gardener’s hard-working allies, and without them we’d face very disappointing harvests. How do you attract bees into your garden? Tell us by dropping us a comment below.

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Comments

 
"we have humming bird feeders in our yard and I noticed that they are always swarming with bees all going for the nectar. so, I think I might get more for around my vegetables and melons."
kevin on Tuesday 1 March 2016
"We attract bees by placing watermelon chunks and juice along with apple slices all year long (we live in central Texas where winters are mild, sometimes no extant). During the summer we put out what I like to call "Butterfly Salsa" We chop up water melon, apple, pear and sometimes kiwi. Mix it all together and place it on dishes placed out in the yard. We started doing this for the butterflies but the bees really love this "salsa"."
Andee on Wednesday 23 March 2016
"Hi Kevin and Andee. Thanks so much for sharing your tips and observations - I love the idea of a 'butterfly salsa'!"
Ben Vanheems on Wednesday 23 March 2016
"We've had lots of honeybees on our jasmine which is just about finished blooming and they are all on our honeysuckle. I have noticed them all over my tomato and cucumber blooms. My 93 year old Dad raises honeybees in Bandera, Texas."
Mrs Haynes on Monday 16 May 2016
"That's brilliant. Jasmine and honeysuckle are very much bee favourites, so they're clearly helping attract them into your garden."
Ben Vanheems on Tuesday 17 May 2016
"I live just outside Cape Town and have sectioned off part of my garden for "fynbos" indigenous plants such as proteas, pin cushions, ericas. I already have honeysuckle, flowering aloes, gardenia, roses, daisies and jasmine."
Ann Sharp on Saturday 25 June 2016
"Hi Ann. I hope your fynbos garden does well - some stunning flowers in your list there!"
Ben Vanheems on Monday 27 June 2016
"I am finally learning about attracting pollinators after many years of gardening. Last year, the nasturtiums that we planted made their way through the whole garden and were beautiful and edible! I noticed even hummingbirds enjoying their nectar. Also, the bees really love the dill."
Christine Gallegos on Thursday 26 January 2017
"That's brilliant Christine. They really do help to attract so many beautiful creatures."
Ben Vanheems on Monday 30 January 2017
"We have a veggie garden in our cohousing community in Bend OR along with several bee hives (not for taking of honey). It supplies about 40 people usually with excess to donate to the homeless folks. Usually our biggest problem is aphids on collards and kale. Thanks for providing a great website. Doug"
doug butler on Tuesday 14 March 2017
"Hi Doug. Thanks for your comment. Yes, aphids are a common nuisance, but if you can try and attract predators such as hoverflies, ladybugs and lavewings, this should help a lot - and also provide a useful supply of nectar for the bees."
Ben Vanheems on Wednesday 15 March 2017
"I have started multiple seedling kits which are doing well. My plan is to plant them in garden boxes surrounding my bee hive (new hive, my first). I have lavender in the front of my house that I will be transplanting to the backyard closer to the hive, it seems to be very resilient. I like the idea of mashing up some melon and berries for the bees, sound like a desert for them. "
Kyle on Friday 2 February 2018
" Good luck with your B garden Kyle. Sounds like you have a fantastic project there. "
Ben Vanheems on Sunday 4 February 2018
"Be friendly plant a silver birch tree. (Read this line how you will) This March I noticed for the first time that scores of honey bees were active collecting pollen from newly opened birch tree catkins 12 or more feet up. "
K.Cherry on Monday 30 April 2018
"If you allow an Oregeno Plant to go to flower, many bees will be attracted to it. "
cheryl ku on Friday 5 April 2019
"Oregano is fantastic for attracting bees Cheryl, absolutely."
Ben Vanheems on Friday 5 April 2019
"FUN!! We will do this week. "
Zoey on Saturday 25 April 2020
"Brilliant Zoey! Let us know how you get on. :-)"
Ben Vanheems on Monday 27 April 2020

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