Build a pollinator’s dream garden
We love pollinators! By drinking nectar from flowers, bees, butterflies, hoverflies and wasps help make the world a greener place. Their bodies are dusted with pollen as they feed, which rubs off onto new flowers – ‘fertilising’ them so the flowering plants can produce seeds. But pollinators need our help! Their habitats are declining, so the more we can all do to ‘rewild’ our outdoor spaces the better. Here are some tips on how to make a pollinator friendly home or school garden.
Plant wild flower seeds
Spring is a perfect time to sow wild flower seeds that bugs will love once they flower! bugs. The more different types and colours you can grow, the greater the variety of pollinators you’ll attract.
At the garden centre, look for seed packets with a bee logo. Sprinkle them over freshly raked soil, water them when the weather is dry and be patient while they grow!
Pollinators love it when we simply let nature be!
Let nature grow wild
Pollinators love it when we simply let nature be! Make a mini meadow by letting a patch of grass grow long (why not take part in ‘No Mow May’?) Ask your grown-up to say no to pesticides and weed killer, as chemicals can harm bugs. And leave some dead wood and leaves lying around – so insects can make their homes in them and breed.
Start a bug hotel
Make a safe space for pollinators to stay by building a cool bug hotel. The holes act as ideal places for solitary bees to nest in.
And try leaving out a shallow dish of water, with pebbles in it, where thirsty guests can perch and drink, before buzzing off again!