Growing
Permaculture Gardener Shares Her 10 Favourite Alternatives To A Grass Lawn
IN THIS GUIDE Why Get Rid Of Your Grass Lawn? What A Grass Lawn Alternative Might Provide 1) A Neat, Open Space Without Grass 2) Wildflower Meadows 3) Ponds & Water Features 4) Other Wildlife Habitats 5) No-Dig Annual Food Producing Beds 6) Perennial Vegetable Beds 7) A Forest Garden 8) Natural Play Areas For Kids 9) Forage For Chickens / Other Garden Livestock 10) Eco-Friendly Patio / Decking References Boring grass lawns are not the best choice for an eco-friendly garden. Most gardens have at least some lawn, but increasingly, people are beginning to question whether this really is the best use of the space. Historically, lawns were the preserve of grand estates, where they were kept short by livestock or the use of a scythe.1 With the advent of the powered lawn mower, and the decrease in the need for domestic food production with the proliferation of supermarkets and global supply chains, they became the norm for typical home gardens. Where, once, every home would have had its own kitchen garden and grown a range of useful and appealing plants, mono-culture grass lawns began to take over.2 But things are beginning to change, with more and more gardeners realising that lawns are not the best use of their space. Read on to learn why boring mowed grass lawns are not ideal, and to discover some of the interesting alternatives to a grass lawn to consider: Why Get Rid Of Your Grass Lawn? Typical mowed grass lawns are an example of a monoculture. They typically include just one dominant plant – grass. Many gardeners struggle to keep their lawns looking neat, they get rid of any ‘weeds’ and mow them very regularly to maintain them. Fighting to maintain a neat grass lawn damages the ecosystem of a garden. This has led to prominent campaigns like ‘No Mow May’, which encourage gardeners to skip mowing for a month, in order to benefit local wildlife species.3 Even when a lawn is maintained organically, a mono-culture grass lawn is not natural at all. Diversity – a range of plant and animal life working together in harmony – is key for a healthy garden.4 The lack of diversity in a grass lawn is not just boring – it contributes to biodiversity losses.5 Regular mowing harms wildlife, and the surrounding environment is diminished and becomes less resilient as a result. Another thing to consider is that lawns actually take quite a lot of work. Just think what you could do with all the time that you would have spent mowing! What A Grass Lawn Alternative Might Provide When you ditch a mono-culture grass lawn and opt for a more natural and diverse alternative, there is a lot to be gained. A grass lawn alternative might provide: Food for you and your family. Other yields for your household, including herbs and crafting materials which help you live in a more sustainable way. Biodiverse environments which help you and your family keep happy as you interact more harmoniously with nature. Improved amenity outdoor living areas – with shade, increased privacy, better protection from air or noise pollution. An enhanced environment which attracts and benefits a wide range of local wildlife. 1) A Neat, Open Space Without Grass Some gardeners are reluctant to give up a grass lawn because they like the open outlook. They do not want to increase shade, nor block the views with higher plantings. But it is important to remember that you can create ground cover planting without sticking to a grass that needs to be mowed. Small areas of lawn can relatively easily be replaced with other ground cover plants which are suited to the environment and growing conditions in your garden. ”There is a temptation to put borders around the outside of a lawned area,” shares Horticultural Consultant Colin Skelly. “Get rid of this idea and the lawn becomes at most a supporting part to other plantings in the garden.” Alternatively, just try to mow parts of the garden and leave other areas to grow, cutting once or twice a year (preferably removing and composting the cut material). “Once you do this, the chore of regular grass cutting is replaced with more interesting and biodiverse garden space.” A chamomile lawn is one famous example, but there is actually a range of herbs that are great for ground cover. These low growing, spreading herbs (creeping thyme, marjoram, oregano etc.) not only cover a sunny, free-draining area without making it feel too closed in, they are also great for wildlife, and can provide you with a range of yields. They can cope with occasional foot traffic. Clovers are another interesting option to consider. Clovers are other great ground cover plants and they can also be fantastic for wildlife – as well as being great for the fertility in your garden. An area of clover will keep the garden feeling open, while fixing nitrogen for the benefit of surrounding plants. In shaded, boggy areas, grass lawns may be patchy, but moss can make for a soft and lush looking ground cover in such areas. If you choose the right plants for the right places, you can create a range of different ground covers for diverse spaces without sticking to boring grass lawns. 2) Wildflower Meadows Perhaps the most popular option today for those looking to create a more eco-friendly alternative to a grass lawn is a wildflower meadow.6 Joining the ‘no mow’ movement and letting weeds and wildflowers colonise an existing lawn is one way to let nature back into your garden. As well as grasses, a natural ‘wild’ lawn will be mowed far less frequently. In addition to grasses, such a lawn may also include nitrogen-fixing plants like clovers, lawn flowers such as dandelions, daisies, creeping primrose, germander speedwell, selfheal, chickweed and more… It may also have larger self-seeding plants like nettles, dock, thistles, cow parsley and plantain, for example. Some people are going one stage further and sowing perennial meadow seed mixes into existing grasses. These mixes don’t just rely on self-seeding ‘weeds’ but include specific flowering plants which help suppress grass growth and create a more diverse ecology.7 Some people may also plant flowering bulbs to naturalise in the wild lawn/perennial meadow area. Where there is no existing grass cover, or where the turf has been removed, another option is creating an annual meadow, with plants like poppies, cornflowers etc. Both perennial and annual meadow planting schemes can be wonderful alternatives to a grass lawn. 3) Ponds & Water Features If you want to do the right thing for wildlife in your area, another way to use an area that was a lawn is to create a wildlife pond, or other water feature. Water will be beneficial for a wide range of wildlife, and can also improve the space for you and your family too.8 Ponds are perhaps one of the best features you can add to boost the biodiversity in your space. Create a pathway winding through planting to a secret spot where you can watch the wildlife, see the sunlight on the water, and even hear sounds of flowing water, perhaps. A pond, maybe one with a solar-powered water feature, can make your garden a more interesting and relaxing place to be. 4) Other Wildlife Habitats Meadows and ponds are two excellent habitats to create for a wildlife-friendly garden, but these are by no means the only wildlife habitats which could be great alternatives to a grass lawn. You might also replace a lawn with: A woodland garden, with native trees, shrubs and ground cover plants. A rockery or alpine garden. A stumpery or stump garden in a shadier spot. An attractive herb garden. Wide perennial borders, with a winding path between them. 5) No-Dig Annual Food Producing Beds Of course, areas currently taken up by grass lawns could also become a place to grow food for you and your family. It is very easy and straightforward to make new ‘no dig’ lasagna beds on top of an existing lawn. Simply mark out the area where you want new beds, place bed edging to keep things neater, cover the area with cardboard, then layer organic matter (carbon-rich and nitrogen-rich – as you would do in a composting system) to build up your new beds to the desired height. Top these new beds with compost, and plant into them right away. 6) Perennial Vegetable Beds When you think about growing your own food, your mind may jump straight to annual production. But growing common annual crops is not the only option when it comes to growing your own. New beds might also be used to grow perennial edibles, for a far more low-maintenance scheme. Perennial crops which are well known include plants like strawberries, rhubarb, artichokes and asparagus, but there are far more perennial vegetables to consider. Perennial brassica (cabbage family crops), perennial alliums, sorrels, marrows, and many other plants can also be used on their own, or in combination with perennial flowers and herbs, to replace an area of lawn with new, productive beds or borders. 7) A Forest Garden Edible perennials, of course, also include a wide range of fruit trees, cane fruits and fruiting shrubs. These too can be great options to create diverse planting schemes to replace a grass lawn. A forest garden, or edible woodland garden, is all about creating a productive, beautiful space that provides food and a range of other resources in carefully considered, layered planting schemes which mimic a natural woodland or forest. A garden given over to forest garden planting will be a rich space, filled with beneficial wildlife and useful plants. Once established, this is perhaps the ultimate low-maintenance food-producing system – since all the elements in a forest garden design are carefully chosen to work together, meaning you can largely let nature take the reigns. 8) Natural Play Areas For Kids Some people are reluctant to get rid of their lawn because they worry that without a lawn, kids will not have space to play. While a lawn may be the best place to kick a ball around, the more diverse environments created by establishing the alternatives above can be wonderful environments for children to learn and play. Mow paths in a wildflower meadow or create paths through other plantings which kids can explore, race around on, or play hide and seek. Plant trees for kids to climb, make dens using natural materials, or allow kids to make their own. Send kids on a bug hunt to learn more about the creatures with whom they share their space. Create a safe space for foraging, so kids can graze as they go. Make each journey into your garden an adventure with lush, dense planting, and kids certainly won’t miss the lawn. 9) Forage For Chickens / Other Garden Livestock If you like the idea of becoming more self-sufficient and living the ‘good life’ then you might also like to consider adding some livestock to your garden. As well as giving over some of your lawn to food-producing areas, you might also like to make an area where chickens or other garden wildlife can forage, and sowing a diverse forage mix in place of mono-culture grass. Whether you fence off growing areas from chickens, or chickens or other livestock from the rest of the garden, in some areas, this could be another interesting option to consider. Just make sure you know the rules in your area before you introduce any animals to your garden. 10) Eco-Friendly Patio / Decking Finally, of course, you might choose to replace an area of lawn with some eco-friendly decking or an eco-friendly patio area. Just make sure, in a sustainable garden, that you choose materials for any such areas which are natural or reclaimed. Maximising photosynthesis and adding more plants is always the most eco-friendly choice. Permeable surfaces, with lush planting all around, are the best choices for a sustainable garden. References 1. History of Early American Landscape Design. (n.d.). National Gallery of Art. Retrieved March 20, 2023, from https://heald.nga.gov/mediawiki/index.php/Lawn 2. Balogh, A. (2021, December 13). The rise and fall of monoculture farming. Horizon Magazine. Retrieved March 20, 2023, from https://ec.europa.eu/research-and-innovation/en/horizon-magazine/rise-and-fall-monoculture-farming 3. Ways to support us. (n.d.). National Trust. Retrieved March 20, 2023, from https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/support-us 4. Wilson, E. (2008). Why do we need to protect biodiversity? Environment: European Commission. Retrieved March 20, 2023, from https://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/biodiversity/intro/index_en.htm 5. Kogut, P. (2020, October 20). Monoculture Farming In Agriculture Industry. EOS Data Analytics. Retrieved March 20, 2023, from https://eos.com/blog/monoculture-farming/ 6. Wildflower Meadows. (n.d.). Sustainability Exchange. Retrieved March 20, 2023, from https://www.sustainabilityexchange.ac.uk/wildflower_meadows 7. Forest Research. (2022a, February 9). Wildflower meadow habitats. Retrieved March 20, 2023, from https://www.forestresearch.gov.uk/tools-and-resources/fthr/urban-regeneration-and-greenspace-partnership/greenspace-in-practice/benefits-of-greenspace/wildflower-meadow-habitats/ 8. Water: Garden for Wildlife. (n.d.). National Wildlife Federation. Retrieved March 20, 2023, from https://www.nwf.org/Garden-for-Wildlife/Water
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We Interviewed Garden Designers For Their 20 Top Wildlife Garden Ideas
IN THIS GUIDE 1) Create A Wildlife Pond 2) Make A Bog Garden / Wetland Area 3) Make A Rain Garden 4) Landscape To Protect The Soil 5) Plant A Wildflower Meadow 6) Plant Fruit Trees 7) Plant Other Native Trees 8) Establish A Forest Garden 9) Make New No-Dig Garden Beds 10) Companion Plant Annual Crops With Flowers & Herbs 11) Create A Perennial Bed Or Border 12) Plant A Mixed Native Hedgerow 13) Clad Walls Or Fences With Perennial Climbers 14) Choose Living Roofs For Sheds & Other Structures 15) Create A Stump Garden 16) Create A Rockery 17) Leave Some Weeds For Wildlife 18) Make A Log Or Brush Pile (Or Dead Hedge) 19) Add Nesting Boxes & Wildlife ‘Hotels’ 20) Add Feeders In Your Garden References Creating a wildlife garden is a great eco-friendly project for you and your family. There is plenty that you can do to benefit nature and attract and aid wildlife in your garden. And remember, what benefits wildlife also benefits you, as a gardener. The more biodiversity you can bring to your space, the more vibrant and resilient it will be. “There are many ways gardeners can help care for the environment and have the climate in mind,” says Hannah Reid, Garden Writer and Blogger. Wildlife is endangered by human activity. But we humans can also do a lot to reduce biodiversity losses and to help make our environments better places for wildlife to be, and better spaces for us. Here are 20 wildlife garden ideas to benefit nature, help wildlife, and create thriving and productive spaces that provide for you, your family, and all the life which shares your space. 1) Create A Wildlife Pond One of the very best things you can do in a wildlife garden is to create a wildlife pond.1 Wildlife ponds are a year-round source of water for wildlife to drink or bathe in, and also provide a habitat for a range of aquatic and amphibious creatures. Ponds attract and benefit many animals, boosting biodiversity. They are also extremely attractive and can help make your garden a relaxing place to be. “An obvious way to help wildlife is to add water features, even tiny ponds or baths, to your spaces,” shares Dave Goulson, Bee Ecologist & Conservationist. “It’s amazing how much wildlife some water will provide for.” By planting up a wildlife pond with a range of aquatic and marginal plants, you can create a thriving ecosystem that supports a wide variety of life, including slug-eating frogs. “A good balance is for half the surface to be vegetation, and half water,” according to Horticulturist Peter Lickorish. Ponds should ideally be at least two feet deep in the middle, with a shallow beach area at one side to allow wildlife to get in and out easily. But in tiny gardens, even an old washing up bowl or barrel placed in the ground can be better than no pond at all, as Manoj Maldé, award-winning garden designer, explains: “Fill a bowl with water, leave it in your garden and watch how it attracts wildlife. I do this in my garden and it attracts birds, bees, butterflies and other insects. “Using ways of inviting beneficial wildlife into the garden will help to keep control of the bad insects you don’t want. “In turn, you may be able to reduce your use of artificial insecticides which will have a positive knock-on effect of reduction in plastic containers and packaging – and it helps to save a few pennies.” “Very shallow areas of water – even a saucer – can be great for bees and other insects, as well as birds, to drink from…or watch them drink from water droplets on plants like Alchemilla,” adds Peter. “I bought a water bath for the first time this year and I’ve spotted my first frog, which is exciting,” shares Gardener Sally Flatman. 2) Make A Bog Garden / Wetland Area To make a watery area of your garden even better for wildlife, you could also consider creating a bog garden or a small wetland area adjacent to a pond, or in a naturally boggy and waterlogged spot on your property. Wetland ecosystems are one of the most biodiverse ecosystems on earth.2 Even a small area of bog garden or wetland in your garden could boost biodiversity considerably, and be a boon to a range of different wildlife, including bees – if planted with plants such as marsh marigold, Caltha palustris. “By incorporating water into the garden, from a small half-barrel pond to an enormous lake, we can provide a home for so much more wildlife, with the added benefit of attracting slug-hungry predators like frogs, as well as creating opportunities for different types of ornamental planting,” adds Sam Hickmott, a Horticulturist. 3) Make A Rain Garden Staying with the water theme, another great wildlife garden idea involves finding ways to catch rainwater in your garden and keep it around. There are a great many benefits to making a rain garden, which will catch rainfall runoff from a roof or driveway. One of the benefits is that the moist soil and rich planting within it can be great for wildlife.3 The idea is that water from gutters or hard surfaces are directed into a basin or dip created in the soil, which is filled with organic material and planted up with plants that tolerate periods of wet and periods of dry conditions. This feature can be a habitat for a range of species, and if you choose the right plants, can provide wildlife with food and other resources too. Plant up a rain garden with native plants and it can catch and store far more water than a boring lawn, and will also bring much more life to your garden. 4) Landscape To Protect The Soil Another way to catch rainwater and keep it around in your garden is to create on-contour swales (ditches) on a gentle slope. Adding swales and berms on their downward side, and planting up the berms with plenty of useful and attractive plants will keep water around, aiding soil life and a range of other wildlife too.4 Taking care of the soil is very important in a wildlife garden because much of the wildlife we most wish to attract is part of the ecosystem of healthy soil.5 “Stop using chemicals and start letting nature achieve her own balance,” shares Gardener Alan Titchmarsh. When trying to attract wildlife to your garden, do not forget the wildlife which we cannot usually see, which lives and works below the soil surface. Terracing can also work well on steeper slopes to prevent runoff and erosion. 5) Plant A Wildflower Meadow One of the most obvious types of wildlife we wish to attract in a wildlife garden are pollinators. Bees and a range of other insects play crucial roles in plant pollination and we want plenty of them around. One of the wonderful ways to attract pollinators to your garden is to create a wildflower meadow.6 Getting rid of a boring, mowed grass lawn is another of the best things you can do for wildlife in your garden. “Don’t be too tidy. I’m not saying your garden has to look a mess, but endless deadheading, mowing and tidying away is getting rid of a little bit of habitat for wildlife every time,” Dave says. “Leave herbaceous plants up throughout the winter and don’t chop them back until the spring. It’s a really easy thing to do, as loads of insects spend their winters sitting on those dead stalks and flower heads.” Replacing it with an infrequently mowed perennial or annual wildflower meadow is one excellent way to go. “Plant some native wildflowers in a little patch,” adds Dave. “It doesn’t have to be big. We asked members of The Buzz Club to grow a 2x2m patch and then count the insects they saw, and the results were amazing. “There were hundreds of insects from dozens of different species attracted to these patches, so you don’t need lots of space.” Be sure to think about where you live, the microclimate and soil, and choose a wildflower or meadow mix which is suitable for your area and location. “Many meadow plants prefer relatively poor soil, so this is no barrier to starting one,” says Peter Lickorish. “In fact, suppressing lush grass can be a challenge, so consider adding plants which can help achieve this – including Rhinanthus minor, yellow rattle.” 6) Plant Fruit Trees Just a few fruit trees in blossom can provide a huge amount of nectar for bees and other pollinators. The fruit which you do not manage to harvest, and that which falls from the tree, will also be appreciated by butterflies and other wildlife later in the year.7 Fruit trees also provide for wildlife in many other ways too – feeding a whole host of creatures, and giving a range of wildlife shelter or a place to live. “As an example, ladybirds love gobbling up any aphids on fruit trees,” says Peter. And that is before you even begin to consider the benefits they can bring for you and your family. Even in tiny gardens, there is space for a small fruit tree. You can grow cordon varieties up against a fence, or even grow patio fruit trees in pots. Almost anyone can place a fruit tree in their garden. 7) Plant Other Native Trees If you have a larger garden, then of course fruit trees are not the only trees to consider. Planting other trees is another of the best things you can do for wildlife in your area. Choosing native trees means you can benefit a huge range of native wildlife, which has evolved alongside these species and works symbiotically with native plants in a range of different ways.8 Even a single tree can make a big difference to the biodiversity in your garden, and can enrich your own life too, in so many different ways. In somewhat smaller gardens, native trees can be coppiced to keep them small, which also helps create habitat and other benefits for a range of creatures. 8) Establish A Forest Garden If you really want to do as much as you can for wildlife in your garden, then you can think beyond tree planting and think about creating thriving, productive and resilient ecosystems to feed you, and many other creatures with whom you share your space.9 Establish a forest garden, also known as a food forest or edible woodland garden and watch the wildlife arrive. A forest garden is a wildlife-friendly way to grow your own food, and creates a much more low maintenance food-producing system than annual beds. A forest garden has layered planting – with trees, shrubs, climbers, herbaceous perennials, self-seeding annuals/biennials, and more which work together in many ways with each other, and with wildlife in the space. Not all are edible, but all contribute to the system as a whole. “Having a mix of plants is really great,” shares Grass Expert Neil Lucas. “Growing for pollinators is good, but growing for diversity is better because you get such a wide range of plants that appeal to all sorts of wildlife.” 9) Make New No-Dig Garden Beds If you are still interested in annual food production, then in a wildlife-friendly garden, you will want to make sure that your efforts to grow your own do not conflict with the nature in your garden. In a no-dig garden, you will work to protect the soil and the life it contains, and as mentioned above, this is always great for garden biodiversity. “By disengaging from the ground and not hoeing, digging or weeding, you’re allowing all sorts of invertebrates to start making a home there,” shares Neil. When making new no-dig garden beds, the idea is to disturb the existing soil as little as possible. “Many organisms are happy at a particular soil depth and soil disturbance could put them somewhere they don’t want to be,” says Peter. Rather than digging new beds, you will make new beds by layering organic material on top of the soil surface. Weeds can be suppressed under layers of cardboard. No-dig garden beds like lasagna gardens and hugelkultur mounds allow a wide range of soil life to thrive.10 10) Companion Plant Annual Crops With Flowers & Herbs Once you have made your new no-dig beds, you also need to think about what you plant in them. In a wildlife garden, companion planting annual crops is key. Rather than, for example, just growing cabbages in one bed and carrots in another, you should create vibrant and diverse polycultures, with a range of plants growing in each bed which benefit one another. “Have permaculture at the front of your mind and plant a diverse range of plants in the garden,” says Hannah. “This will help to attract pollinators too, which is both great for the environment and vegetable growers, as it’s the pollinators that mean we get to harvest veggies!” As Hannah explains, incorporating plenty of flowers and herbs as companion plants around and between your main crops can bring more beneficial wildlife to your garden: wildlife that will pollinate your crops, and help, through predation, to keep pest numbers down.11 “Plants such as the French marigold, Tagetes patula, can deter whitefly from tomatoes,” adds Peter Lickorish. Remember to garden organically at all times in order to make sure you keep safe the wildlife that you attract. 11) Create A Perennial Bed Or Border As well as thinking about annual production when growing your own, it is important to consider perennial production too. Fruit trees, shrubs and other perennial plants can, as mentioned above, be included in a forest garden type area. But perennial beds or borders filled with perennial flowers, vegetables and herbs can also be great for a wildlife garden. With herbaceous perennials, leaving plant stems and seed heads in place over the autumn and winter months can provide a haven for a range of wildlife, with plenty of shelter, and food sources too. “The stems of Turkish sage, Phlomis russeliana, can be very elegant if left over winter,” advises Peter. A herbaceous border is another great feature for a wildlife-friendly garden. 12) Plant A Mixed Native Hedgerow Hedges can also be a place where wildlife can thrive, especially if, instead of creating a neat, single species hedge, you plant a mixed hedgerow with a variety of native or mostly native plants. “Buy plants from UK growers to minimise transportation emissions, don’t use pesticides and don’t buy a plant and expect it to survive without first doing a little bit of research into its care requirements,” says Sarah Gerrard-Jones, when asked about the best ways to help nature. “The most sustainable thing you can do is keep a native plant alive!” There are many great species for a mixed hedgerow – from wild fruits like blackthorn/sloe, bullace/wild plum, bird cherry/gean, and elder, to hazel, hawthorn, hornbeam, holly, native roses, guelder rose and more. Hedgerows can be placed along a garden boundary, but might also be imaginatively used to separate zones of your garden into different garden rooms. Hedgerows can be nesting sites, provide shelter for many creatures, and, of course, can also provide food, for the wildlife and for you. 13) Clad Walls Or Fences With Perennial Climbers Where gardens are surrounded by walls or fences, these will obviously not be as attractive for wildlife, and can in fact block wildlife from your garden. To make your fences or walls more biodiverse (and attractive) consider cladding them with perennial climbers. Ivy, honeysuckle, and other climbers are also great for wildlife throughout the year. In addition, if you have a solid boundary around your garden, think about making holes which can be used as wildlife corridors by hedgehogs and other wonderful garden wildlife. Do not accidentally exclude wildlife from your garden with barriers that certain creatures cannot breach. 14) Choose Living Roofs For Sheds & Other Structures One of the key things in a wildlife garden is to make sure that you include as much plant life, and as varied a selection of plants, as possible. Planting where plants would not typically be found is one great way to cram more plants into your garden. One example of this is choosing living roofs, or green roofs for sheds and other structures in your garden. Sedums, grasses and meadow flowers, and a number of other plants can make great roof covering and are a boon for bees and other pollinators.12 15) Create A Stump Garden Another key concept behind a wildlife garden involves creating as many different ecosystem niches and different habitats as possible. One cool idea for a wildlife garden is a stump garden, or stumpery. This involves creating a garden around dead and decomposing tree stumps, logs and branches. “If a branch has fallen from your tree, don’t discard it,” shares Danny Clarke, a Garden Designer and Horticulturist who is also known as The Black Gardener. “Put it in a bed and make a little stumpery out of it. Plant some ferns or hostas around it. “Wildlife will benefit from these simple ideas. Eventually, that wood will decay and enrich the soil and from that enrichment, new plants will grow.” Stump gardens are wonderful for solitary bees, beetles, woodlice, toads, small mammals and more. They are a wonderful wildlife habitat which can work very well in a shaded or partially shaded spot. “I put log piles with soil in my space and they become hotels in the corners of our gardens” shares Neil. Adding ferns and woodland plants contrasts well with the stumps. 16) Create A Rockery Placing rocks and stones in a garden bed to create a rockery is another way to create different habitats for a range of wildlife. Rockeries can be beautiful garden features, and can attract a range of different creatures to the space. Rockeries will typically have plenty of nooks and crannies for wildlife to hide in, and butterflies and perhaps even lizards will enjoy sunning themselves on flat rock surfaces. Fill your rockery with flowering alpine plants and pollinators will also benefit throughout the year. 17) Leave Some Weeds For Wildlife “Every year I take part in Plantlife’s No Mow May but I also carry it on through Let It Bloom June and Knee High July,” shares Debi Holland. “Our urban front lawn is a dream, filled with ox-eye daisies and the buzz of pollinators. Other than mowing a path around the edge nature is allowed to run wild and the local insects seem very happy.” As explained above, in a wildlife garden, it is never a good idea to be too zealous in weed removal. Campaigns such as No Mow May encourage the unchecked growth of plants commonly considered weeds, which are highly beneficial to garden wildlife.13 “You should listen to your garden and watch what is does, as opposed to trying to make it do what you want it to do,” shares Sally. “I think that comes back to letting plants, even weeds, go to seed when they want to.” Of course, you may not want weeds in your main growing areas, but it is a good idea to leave some wilder corners in your space where weeds and native wildflowers can thrive. “Nature is important and we need to learn to co-exist with it,” shares Danny. “Birds, bees and butterflies are not interested in whether a garden is tidy or not. “They’re just interested in whether they can get food or shelter, so we need to consider them first. “It’s all about being part of this big cycle and working with it, not against it. If we work against it, we do it to our detriment.” Creating a nettle patch, perhaps, or letting plants like dandelions pop up in a lawn or pathways can be great for a range of insects and other wildlife in your garden. And remember, many weeds can actually be very useful for us too, in a range of ways.14 “Don’t see your garden as a battleground,” adds Sally. “Once you relax about that and stop trying to control every element of your garden, more wildlife will creep in.” 18) Make A Log Or Brush Pile (Or Dead Hedge) Not being too tidy in a garden is key to wildlife attraction. “A pile of logs and twigs will provide cover for beetles to live,” shares Georgie Newbery, a Flower Farmer. “Beetles eat slugs. Hedgehogs eat beetles. We need room for the whole foot chain if we are to allow ecosystems to flourish.” As well as leaving some weeds to thrive in wilder corners of the space, you should also make sure that you leave some dead and decaying organic woody material lying around. You can pile branches, leaves and other organic debris in a pile in a corner of your garden, or make a dead hedge by piling such material between two rows of posts stuck in the ground. “Leaving dense twigs and foliage will create nesting and hibernating spaces,” shares Author Naomi Slade. “It is really important to provide insect larvae with food sources, whether it is rotting wood or plant material, as otherwise, there can be no adults.” The materials will provide a home for a range of wildlife, and enrich and improve the soil as they slowly break down.15 “Stacking or laying material in strata – lining it up in layers facing the same direction – can make them appear more ornamental,” according to Peter Lickorish. “The prevailing wind generally blows branches down in the same direction, so you can mimic this.” The USDA suggests that one brush pile every 2-300 feet should provide adequate cover and travel lanes between food sources for most species. 19) Add Nesting Boxes & Wildlife ‘Hotels’ The best ideas for a wildlife garden always involve thinking about the diverse plants that you choose, how they can be combined, and how you can create natural habitats for as many creatures as possible. But in small gardens, you might not have the space to create as many natural habitats as you might wish. This is where nesting boxes and wildlife ‘hotels’ can come in. Adding bird boxes, bat boxes, squirrel boxes, bee hotels and other similar features can ensure you have space for wildlife when you cannot provide more natural accommodation options. Every creature that visits your garden should be able to find a home when you add fun features of this kind to your space. A mixture of materials, including tiles and logs with drilled holes, could be packed into a steel gabion, for example. Just make sure that you understand the best placement for each of the different features of this kind that you add, so the options are suitable for the creatures you wish to attract. 20) Add Feeders In Your Garden Again, remember that adding natural food sources through the right plant choices is most important. Adding plenty of seeding plants and berry-producing trees and bushes, and ensuring plenty of insect life is around, are the best ways to make sure there is food for all in a wildlife garden. But there are still times when it can be helpful to supplement the wild diet of the creatures in your garden with additional food. A range of garden birds, for example, will benefit from additional food in winter, when there is less wild food around. Research from the British Trust for Ornithology in 2019 suggested that bird feeding has helped to support the populations of many bird species in the UK.16 Choosing and positioning the right feeders for different birds and other creatures is one more idea that can be beneficial in a wildlife garden. These are, of course, just some of the things you can do to create a wonderful wildlife garden. But these ideas should provide you with a good idea of where to start. References 1. The value of ponds for wildlife. (n.d.). Flagship Ponds. Retrieved March 27, 2023, from https://freshwaterhabitats.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/The-value-of-ponds-for-wildlife-NEW.pdf 2. What is biodiversity and why do we need it? (2020, June 13). WWT. Retrieved March 27, 2023, from https://www.wwt.org.uk/news-and-stories/blog/what-is-biodiversity-and-why-do-we-need-it/ 3. Rain Gardens: A Way to Improve Water Quality. (2016, November 28). Center for Agriculture, Food, and the Environment. Retrieved March 27, 2023, from https://ag.umass.edu/landscape/fact-sheets/rain-gardens-way-to-improve-water-quality 4. Engels, J. (2015, August 25). Using Swales to Your Advantage: How to Water Your Garden With the Power of Nature. One Green Planet. Retrieved March 27, 2023, from https://www.onegreenplanet.org/lifestyle/permaculture-magic-why-swales-are-swell-for-the-garden/ 5. Saving Our Soils. (2021). Soil Association. Retrieved March 27, 2023, from https://www.soilassociation.org/media/24941/saving-our-soils-report-dec21.pdf 6. Forest Research. (2022b, February 9). Wildflower meadow habitats. Retrieved March 27, 2023, from https://www.forestresearch.gov.uk/tools-and-resources/fthr/urban-regeneration-and-greenspace-partnership/greenspace-in-practice/benefits-of-greenspace/wildflower-meadow-habitats/ 7. Benefits of orchards and fruit growing. (2017, May 22). The Orchard Project. Retrieved March 27, 2023, from https://www.theorchardproject.org.uk/guides_and_advice/benefits-of-orchards-and-fruit-growing/ 8. Why are Trees Important for Biodiversity? (n.d.). Woodland Trust. Retrieved March 27, 2023, from https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/british-trees/why-trees-are-important-for-biodiversity/ 9. Key benefits of forest gardens. (n.d.). National Forest Gardening Scheme. Retrieved March 27, 2023, from https://nationalforestgardening.org/benefits-of-forest-gardens/key-benefits/ 10. The Many Benefits of Hugelkultur. (2023, March 27). Permaculture. Retrieved March 27, 2023, from https://www.permaculture.co.uk/articles/the-many-benefits-of-hugelkultur/ 11. Riesselman, L. (2010, January 1). Companion Planting: A Method for Sustainable Pest Control. Iowa State University. Retrieved March 27, 2023, from https://dr.lib.iastate.edu/entities/publication/3958510b-6314-4800-9ded-88cf9d4cbca2 12. Green roofs / RHS Gardening. (n.d.). Royal Horticultural Society. https://www.rhs.org.uk/garden-features/green-roofs 13. Ways to support us. (n.d.-b). National Trust. Retrieved March 27, 2023, from https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/support-us 14. Hillocks, R. (1997). The potential benefits of weeds with reference to small holder agriculture in Africa. Integrated Pest Management. Retrieved March 27, 2023, from https://www2.hawaii.edu/~theodore/Images/weeds_as_resources_africa.pdf 15. Schalau, J. (2019, June 26). Brush Piles Benefit Wildlife. Backyard Gardener. Retrieved March 27, 2023, from https://cals.arizona.edu/yavapai/anr/hort/byg/archive/brushpiles.html 16. Boom time at Britain’s bird feeders. (2019, May 21). BTO – British Trust for Ornithology. Retrieved March 27, 2023, from https://www.bto.org/press-releases/boom-time-britains-bird-feeders
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According To Beekeepers, These 14 Plants Are Irresistible To Bees
IN THIS GUIDE Plants For Bees By Season Choosing The Right Flowers 1) Crocus 2) Phacelia 3) Sedum 4) Winter Flowering Honeysuckle 5) Lavender 6) Aquilegia 7) Helenium Trees for Bees 8) Apple Trees 9) Holly Trees & Bushes 10) Sophora japonica Bee-Friendly Herbs 11) Borage 12) Oregano 13) Chives 14) Rosemary So Get Planting For Bees… References What could be more charming than sitting in your garden, watching the bees dance from flower to flower? And while their gentle buzzing certainly adds to the natural ambience, bees are also an integral part of our ecosystem. Bees are the world’s most important pollinators and we rely on them to pollinate up to a third of all the food we eat.1 Sadly, bees in the UK are under threat and, given how impactful they are on the success of our crops, losing them would be catastrophic.3 Bees need our help! Thankfully, as a gardener, you have the opportunity to make a difference. Attracting bees into your garden is not only a huge benefit to your plants, but you can also rest assured knowing you are making a positive impact on the planet as a whole. So if you have decided to embark on cultivating a bee-friendly, Earth-enhancing garden then this article is sure to set you on the right path. We’ve studied the six years of research by the University of Sussex and the Goulson Lab (run by Professor of Biology and bee expert Dave Goulson) to help identify the plants bees love the most.4 In short, their findings showed that Marjoram, Fleabane, Lamb’s Ear, Wallflowers, Buddleja, Verbena, Catmint and Borage are all among the flowers most appealing to bees. Plants For Bees By Season “The best way to attract bees to gardens is to grow plants, shrubs and trees that have flowers,” says Mariusz Chudy, the owner of Goldendrops Bee Farm. Choosing a range of plants that flower in different seasons can benefit bees and pollinators across the entire year, rather than a short period in the year. “I always encourage people to grow native plants where they can for bees, as there is good evidence that natives tend to attract more pollinating insects on average,” shares Bee Ecologist Dave Goulson. “They also provide food plants for caterpillars, moths and other insects, which tend to be quite fussy with what they feed on, whereas non-natives tend not to be suitable foods for these. “Thankfully, there are loads of plants that are attractive to bees and wildlife, including lots of pretty ones!” Here are some of the top plants to grow for each season; choosing and growing just a few from each would be truly beneficial for your local wildlife: Season Plants Spring WallflowersFleabaneAquilegiaHollyRosemary Summer MarjoramPhaceliaLavenderHeleniumHollyhockBorageChives Autumn SedumOreganoSephora Japonica Winter CrocusWinter Flowering HoneysuckleApple Tree “My favourite plants are beautiful, robust, pollinator-friendly and can cope in the public realm without requiring watering,” shares Karen Liebreich, Gardener and Author. We include more detail on some of these bee-friendly plants below, as well as a few of Dave’s videos to help in your quest. Let’s get to it! Choosing The Right Flowers As we’ve said, bees bring life to your garden and vice versa. The nectar that bees forage for is packed with sugar which gives them the energy to stay busy. The pollen provides vital proteins and oil to keep them healthy. “In short, bees prefer simple, open flowers,” says Peter Benefer, the Director of Benefers’ Bees. “They see in the ultra violet spectrum and will go to flowers that give them the best reward in terms of nectar and pollen. “Think of clothing that shows up in a nightclub, as that is what will be showing up in the bees’ eyes.” It’s interesting to note that different species of bee have tongues of different lengths, so choosing a variety of flower shapes will allow more bees to enjoy your garden. When it comes to choosing the right flowers a good, solid goal is to aim to cater for as many different species of bees as possible, as well as picking plants that flower in different seasons ensuring that you are providing for them all year round. 1) Crocus A firm favourite among hairy-footed flower bees and queen bumblebees, these springtime flowers are the perfect start to their busy year. Not only do these plants add a delightful splash of colour to your garden, but they provide vital shelter for bees who will often take refuge in them overnight. If you’re lucky you should catch them leaving in the morning, laden with pollen. 2) Phacelia According to Biologist Dave Goulson, Phacelia is “perhaps the single most attractive plant for bees on the planet.” With a sweet scent, pretty blue flowers, and ferny leaves, this summer flowering plant produces an abundance of nectar and pollen, and is sure to keep your garden buzzing. 3) Sedum This traditional classic flowers late into summer and early autumn. Its large umbrella-shaped blooms are super accessible for hungry bees, making this a popular plant for several types of species. 4) Winter Flowering Honeysuckle This highly fragrant plant sports gorgeous, tubular flowers making them perfect pitstops for winter-active bumble bees. A native plant and intrepid climber whose flowers are followed by berries, which will also attract many species of birds. 5) Lavender Bees adore lavender and this perennial plant grows back year after year. What’s more, it flowers during the midsummer gap – a time where, surprisingly, there is little forage and honey bees are at their hungriest. Lavender also repels moths, fleas, flies, and mosquitoes so this fragrant flower really is the gift that keeps on giving! 6) Aquilegia Aquilegia (or ‘Grannys Bonnet’) is a herbaceous perennial that should return each year. It usually flowers in late-spring or early summer when bees tend to be very active and has many beautiful and colourful varieties to choose from. 7) Helenium Perennial flower Helenium (or ‘Sneezeweed’) is a firm favourite with bees of all sizes, including many smaller solitary bees. While it should come back each year, it may need to be planted as an annual depending on which area of the UK you live in. It should flower across 3-4 months in late summer and autumn. Trees for Bees If you are fortunate enough to have space, planting a tree is a wonderful, forward-thinking way to provide food and shelter for bees far into the future. Equally, for those among you with a more modest-sized garden, ornamental fruit trees are an elegant alternative to keep the bees happy without compromising on valuable space! 8) Apple Trees Not only does this tree bear one of the world’s most popular fruits, it is also irresistible to honey bees. Whilst the bees keep your apple tree producing healthy fruits and seeds, the tree provides the bees with the energy and raw material they need to produce delicious honey: certainly one of nature’s sweetest treasures! 9) Holly Trees & Bushes As well as its signature, spiky foliage, this festive plant also produces small white flowers in springtime which provide an abundant food source to help bees thrive. Come autumn, its berries will also attract plenty of birds and other, wildlife keeping your garden brimming with life. 10) Sophora japonica Also known as the Chinese Scholar Tree, this ornamental plant grows to around 1m in height. With delicate pea-shaped flowers and feathery foliage, this miniature marvel flowers late into summer and early autumn, making it particularly helpful for bees. Bee-Friendly Herbs Not only are they great for our cooking, but lots of herbs are also loved by bees too. These plants are also especially good for small gardens, so bear in mind that even if you only have a patio to work with, you can still encourage bees to visit you! 11) Borage Nick-named “Bees Bread” because of its nectar-rich blue flowers, this magical little herb is a real hit with bees of many types! Not only will it keep bees well-fed, you can also add its delectable, edible flowers to salads or freeze them in ice cubes to chill your summer cocktails. 12) Oregano A fragrant and essential culinary herb, oregano is loved by honey bees, bumblebees, and a whole range of solitary bees. It flowers in a range of pretty pink shades and the leaves can be added fresh to a wealth of dishes or, alternatively, can be frozen or dried to be used throughout the year. 13) Chives This herb can be eaten fresh from the garden and is easy to grow from seeds. For bees to benefit from chives however, you need to allow them to flower. The purple florets provide plenty of nectar and are particularly well-loved by bumblebees. 14) Rosemary A brilliant food source for bees with a long flowering season, this hardy and fragrant herb can also be harvested for its needles and added to a variety of meats, poultry, and fish. Flowering in summer it provides plentiful nectar to keep your bees from buzzing off! So Get Planting For Bees… Hopefully we’ve given you plenty of ideas to give friendly bees a helping hand. And helping bees really does help your garden as well as our planet’s delicate ecosystem. Regardless of the size of your garden, you can still make a real difference to the bees in your area. According to Horticulturist Colin Skelly, “The artist Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg has produced an algorithm to produce a planting scheme that optimises the resource for bees (and other pollinators). “There are versions at the Eden Project in Cornwall, Hyde Park and Berlin and the website of the project can produce a unique version for your own garden.” You should also consider actively neglecting your garden and letting plants that are commonly considered weeds grow unabated. Studies have revealed that areas where gardens are left unkempt are often a haven for many species of bees.5 With so many plants to choose from it won’t be long until your garden is completely buzzing, in fact, we’re convinced it’s going to be the bee’s knees! References 1. Would we starve without bees? (2019, August 27). BBC Teach. Retrieved March 22, 2023, from https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/would-we-starve-without-bees/zkf292p 3. Bees under siege from habitat loss, climate change and pesticides. (2019, May). WWF. Retrieved March 22, 2023, from https://www.wwf.org.uk/sites/default/files/2019-05/EofE%20bee%20report%202019%20FINAL_17MAY2019.pdf 4. Plants for honey bees and other flower visitors. (2017, July 17). The Laboratory of Apiculture and Social Insects: University of Sussex. Retrieved March 22, 2023, from https://www.sussex.ac.uk/lasi/resources/plants 5. Ashby, R. (2012, May 10). Keeping up with the Joneses harms Britain’s bees. University of Leeds. Retrieved March 22, 2023, from https://www.leeds.ac.uk/news/article/3198/keeping_up_with_the_joneses_harms_britains_bees
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Why Are There No Birds In My Garden? How You Can Lure Them With Food, Water And Shelter
IN THIS GUIDE Identifying Visiting Birds 1) Utilise A Bird Feeder 2) Use Food That Birds Prefer 3) Introduce A Bird Bath 4) Use A Nest Box 5) Attract Birds With Plants That’s It… References You may be wondering, “why are there no birds in my garden?” Fret not, even if there are none visiting at the moment, there are ways to lure them in. The first step in most cases is to provide them with something to eat. And don’t worry, you’re not stuck if you live in a city – this guide will tell you how to attract birds to an urban garden, too. This guide focuses on three main things: food, water, and shelter. And here’s what you might need: A bird feeder. A bird bath. A nest box. Bushes or shrubs with berries. Plants that attract insects. Let’s get started. Identifying Visiting Birds First up, here are some tips and resources for identifying the birds that come to visit. If you aren’t a keen ornithologist, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) have a great bird identification tool.1 Just plug in the particulars of a bird, and the tool will tell you what you’re looking at. There are also tons of bird-spotting books available online, at libraries, and often at charity shops. According to the RSPB, here are the most common garden birds that you’re likely to see: Starlings House Sparrows Blackbirds Blue & Great Tits Robins Greenfinches Collared Doves 1) Utilise A Bird Feeder Let’s be honest, most creatures are motivated mainly by food – thankfully, birds aren’t much different. Setting up a bird feeder in a prime location is often a good first step in attracting birds into your garden. When setting up a feeder, finding the sweet spot is important. It should be close enough to a tree or bush that a bird can quickly make a getaway, but not too close that lurking cats could leap from their cover and attack before a feeding bird has a chance to react. With this in mind, don’t be offended if birds don’t flock to your new feeder straight away: it can take them a while to get used to things, and to feel confident (and safe!) approaching something they don’t recognise. To maximise the chance of birds visiting, keep your feeders clean. You wouldn’t eat food from a place that others had used as a toilet, so you shouldn’t expect birds to do so. How To Make A Bird Feeder If after reading the previous sections you’re scratching your head, here are some ideas on how to build a bird feeder (or set up a pre-bought one). You have almost unlimited flexibility when making a DIY bird feeder for your garden. We’ve seen guides to make them from bowls and plates, teacups, wine bottles, jars, shoes, wooden spoons, and all sorts. A DIY bird-feeder made using a plastic bottle As long as there is somewhere for a bird to stand, and somewhere for food to be stored, you’ve got a functional bird feeder. But there are a couple of things to bear in mind: Some bird feeder designs automatically replenish the seed from a container that animals can’t access. This can protect against one hungry animal clearing the lot, or from the wind distributing your feed all over the garden. An open bird feeder will attract other animals too: squirrels are notoriously fond of bird seed. “There are all sorts of ways to make a garden more wildlife friendly, but when it comes to giving advice, I am cautious about one-hit tips such as feed the birds,” shares Gardener Naomi Slade. “A garden may be created by a gardener, but it is still a community of organisms which relate to each other and interact together, so attracting other animals will also benefit your birds.” Cheeky squirrels see bird seed as easy food 2) Use Food That Birds Prefer First, a few things not to give birds: Milk. Margarine or vegetable oil. Salted, dry roasted, or otherwise flavour nuts. Desiccated coconut: this can expand and kill birds. Any cheese other than mild ones. Cooked porridge oats: they get sticky and can seal a bird’s beak! Mouldy foods: while some moulds are safe, others are deadly. It’s probably best to avoid them all rather than take the chance. Bird Seed Mix This is the first place many people look, and different mixes will contain different ingredients. Here’s what to look out for: Small seeds will attract house sparrows, finches, collared doves, dunnocks, and reed buntings. Maize is the favourite of blackbirds. Sunflower seeds and peanuts will attract greenfinches, all types of tits, dunnocks, robins, and possibly wrens. Make sure they are plain and unsalted. Barley grains and wheat are the favourite of pigeons, doves, and the occasional pheasant. Nyjer seeds, which you may not have heard of, are popular with siskins, goldfinches, sparrows, nuthatches, and even woodpeckers. And here’s what to avoid: Lentils and split peas are too big to be eaten dry by most bird species. Lumps of dog biscuits are the same: these are only suitable for birds when they’ve been soaked, which they probably won’t be in a feeder. Not all birds will be attracted to the bird mix in your feeder. Here are some other options. Fat Balls We’ve all seen birds hanging jauntily upside down from a fat ball on a winter morning. If you want to bring this unusual sight to your garden, here’s what to do. Simply hang the fat ball from a branch after removing it from its mesh bag (if relevant) and wait for the birds to come. You can make your own fat balls, too. Just pour melted fat over a selection of nuts and seeds (see previous section). You want about 1:2 parts fat:mix. Note: you shouldn’t use leftover fat from cooking, as oils from foods mix in with it and this can be problematic for birds. Do not use margarine or vegetable oil: birds need lots of saturated fat, which these products take deliberate steps to avoid. Live Food Potentially not for the faint-hearted! Buying or breeding mealworms and other types of insect can attract robins, blue tits, pied wagtails, and wrens. Just make sure the worms are fresh, otherwise you risk making the birds unwell. Because of the creepy crawlies involves, this option definitely isn’t for everyone. Pet Food Some birds love the moist chunks of dog and cat food. The theory is that it acts as a substitute for warm wiggly worms in the depths of winter, when the topsoil is too hard for birds to penetrate. Leaving a bowl of food out can attract blackbirds, magpies, gulls, and even cats! If you live in an area with lots of roaming cats you may find this option counterproductive, as birds will likely be scared off by the cats you attract. Other Foods Grated cheese can attract robins, wrens, and dunnocks. Cooked, unsalted rice is a great winter food and will be enjoyed by all species. Uncooked rice will attract bigger birds and, despite myths, will not expand in their stomach and cause them to burst. Breakfast cereal in small quantities, because large amounts quickly become soggy mush. 3) Introduce A Bird Bath Now that dinner is taken care of, you can start to think about satisfying birds’ other needs. Namely, giving them something to drink. All species need to drink water, and some birds also use it to clean themselves and bathe in. Whether you decide to buy a bird bath or build your own, it’s quite a simple job. All you need is a watertight bowl, something to raise it off the ground slightly, and some water to put in it. When choosing the bowl, make sure it has: Shallow-sloping sides (more like a dustbin lid than a washing-up bowl). A depth of 10cm maximum. A width of 30cm or more. As with bird feeders, make sure your bird bath is out of cat pouncing distance. Birds need to feel safe while bathing! Robins love to bathe in garden bird baths! You can line the bowl with small stones to give the birds a bit more purchase. Once your bird bath is ready you can expect to see blackbirds, starlings, robins, sparrows, wood pigeons, and more. 4) Use A Nest Box Another option for attracting birds is to give them somewhere cosy to sleep. You may see a nest box called a bird box or nesting box. This provision is vital for some bird species. According to the RSPB, about half of the UK’s barn owls now nest in boxes.2 Again you need to decide whether to buy or build. Building one is a simple job: you just need some wood, a saw, a hammer, and a few nails. If you decide to build, we recommend using the nest box schematics available on the RSPB website.3 A few things to consider when setting up your bird box: Make sure the box is deep enough, and that the entrance hole is high enough to protect small birds from falling out or being dragged out by a cat. Include drainage holes so that any visiting birds don’t drown. Sparrows will nest in colonies, so you can make a “sparrow terrace” by having a few nest boxes alongside each other. Face the box northeast so that it is protected from the strongest sunlight. A height of between two and four metres is suitable for most species. 5) Attract Birds With Plants We’ve covered food, water, washing, and sleep so far. One more option is to lure birds into your garden with plants. “Structural diversity and water are key to maximising insect life in the garden,” says Master Horticulturist Colin Skelly. “This means planting as many different types of trees, shrubs and perennials as possible with as long a flowering season as possible, and making sure there is water available. “This will ensure that the base of the food chain is as big as possible to provide the greatest food source possible throughout the year. “This aims to provide an ecosystem in which birds can seek plentiful food and nesting opportunities with bird feeders as a bonus rather than as an essential component.” Choosing plants with fruits and berries, or plants that attract insects, adds a few more dishes to the menu available to birds visiting your garden. The RSPB says that thrushes in particular are attracted to gardens with berries on offer. They give this list of thrush types that you can expect to see: Fieldfares Redwings Mistle Song You may see blackbirds, as well. Choosing plants that are popular with insects will attract birds, too, as it brings another food source to your garden. This can be a good workaround for people who don’t fancy buying or breeding mealworms as bird food! Here are a few suggestions for plants that tick these boxes. For insects: Yarrow Lemon balm Marigolds Dill Cosmos Alyssum Fennel Mallow Lobelia Buddleja Marjoram Lavender Dandelion And plants with berries: All types of currants Elderberries Holly Juniper Raspberry These lists are far from exhaustive! That’s It… After reading this guide you should have a firm idea of the things you can do to attract interesting birds to your garden, whether that’s a few acres of woodland or a small urban patch. The main things to focus on are food, drink, washing, and sleep. Much like humans, birds will visit places where they know they can get a good meal and somewhere comfortable to hang out. The tips in this guide have the combined advantage of making your garden a nicer space in general, too. Everyone wins! Check out Rattan Direct’s guide to the RSPB Bird Watching Weekend for more info on attracting birds to your garden!4 Good luck with your newfound bird-watching opportunities. References 1. Bird Identifier. (n.d.). The RSPB. Retrieved March 17, 2023, from https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/identify-a-bird/ 2. Providing Nest Sites For Bigger Birds. (n.d.). The RSPB. Retrieved March 17, 2023, from https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/advice/how-you-can-help-birds/nestboxes/nestboxes-for-owls-and-kestrels/providing-nest-sites-for-bigger-birds/ 3. Where To Put A Bird Box. (n.d.). The RSPB. Retrieved March 17, 2023, from https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/advice/how-you-can-help-birds/nestboxes/nestboxes-for-small-birds/making-and-placing-a-bird-box/ 4. Cliff, D. (2020, March 17). Bird Watching Weekend with RSPB. Rattan Direct Furniture Blog. Retrieved March 17, 2023, from https://www.rattandirect.co.uk/blog/bird-watching-weekend-with-rspb/
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Garden Hedgehogs Face Many Risks: Here's 12 Practical Steps To Help Protect Them
IN THIS GUIDE Habits Of A Hedgehog Why Do Hedgehogs Need To Be Protected? What Can We Do To Help Hedgehogs? 1) Move Injured Hedgehogs Out Of Harm’s Way 2) Find The Best Course Of Action To Help Injured Hedgehogs Heal 3) Be Careful Not To Cause Injuries To Hedgehogs 4) Leave Some Wild Areas In Your Garden 5) Give Hedgehogs Something To Eat 6) Build A Wooden Hedgehog Home 7) Build A More Simple Hedgehog Home 8) Don’t Disturb Nesting Hedgehogs 9) Don’t Return Stray Babies To Their Nest 10) Connect Gardens With Hedgehog Holes 11) Avoid Slug Pellets 12) Check Bonfires Carefully Before Lighting In Conclusion… References Hedgehogs are a centrepiece of British wildlife. They are an instantly recognisable part of our cultural heritage, from Beatrix Potter’s Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle right through to Sonic the Hedgehog. If you’re wondering how to attract hedgehogs to your garden, how to help them find food and shelter, and how to protect them in the wild, then this guide is for you. Here’s what we’ll cover: Hedgehog life-cycles Risks to hedgehogs Things you can do to help injured hedgehogs How to prevent hedgehog injury Making your garden safer for hedgehogs Making your neighbourhood safer for hedgehogs Let’s start with a look at what hedgehogs get up to. Habits Of A Hedgehog Overturned plant pots can make for a welcoming home If you’re not familiar, hedgehogs are spiky, nocturnal mammals.1 They’re quite small, and their spiny presence is quite rare because of their night-time habits. During autumn and early winter they’re building up fat reserves to survive the winter. Then, in the winter, they hibernate. They take shelter in a specially built nest and hang out over winter. In late March and early April, hedgehogs wake up from their hibernation and begin to search for food.2 Then in May and June hedgehogs give birth to their litters, before repeating the cycle. Why Do Hedgehogs Need To Be Protected? While hedgehogs are considered to be at least concern of extinction by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), they are struggling.3 There are thought to be fewer than a million hedgehogs left in the UK, with 30-70% of populations disappearing since 2000 according to the Wildlife Trusts.4 Their favourite habitats – quiet, grassy places like gardens, parks hedgerows, woodlands, and grasslands – are often under threat from climate change, development, and intensive agriculture. These are the same factors we saw in our bees and butterflies guides: hedgehogs are another animal that, sadly, just can’t keep up. Despite dwindling populations overall, urban populations have actually increased. As natural habitats change, hedgehogs are relying more and more on gardens in urban and suburban areas. Thankfully they are considered “a species of ‘principal importance’ under the NERC Act, which is meant to confer a ‘duty of responsibility’ to public bodies”, according to Hedgehog Street.5 Legal protection isn’t a quick fix for the things that hedgehogs find problematic, though, so in the meantime we need to step in. What Can We Do To Help Hedgehogs? Thankfully, there are plenty of things you can do to help, both in your garden and beyond. Here we share 12 things you can do to help hedgehogs, many of which are quick and easy. They are centred around helping hedgehogs to: Heal quickly if they are injured Find enough food and drink Find somewhere safe to sleep Travel freely Avoid injury In exchange, they will help you too! Hedgehogs are known as Gardner’s Friends for good reason: “diet of common garden pests such as slugs, snails and caterpillars”.6 (Not that we help them with the expectation of something in return!) 1) Move Injured Hedgehogs Out Of Harm’s Way Because hedgehogs are nocturnal, if you see one in the daytime it usually means something’s not right. If you come across a hedgehog laying on the grass or by the side of the road, there’s a strong likelihood that it is injured or in distress. St Tiggywinkles, the renowned and adorably named wildlife hospital, give this advice for helping an injured hedgehog: “If your hedgehog is very poorly or is cold, you can also give it a hot water bottle or a drinks bottle filled with warm water and wrapped in a tea towel, to snuggle up to.” While you’re looking after an injured hedgehog, keep them sheltered in a cardboard box. Keep in mind they’re keen climbers, though: you’ll want to make sure the box has high edges. Lining the box with newspaper will give them somewhere cosy to recover. A tea towel draped over the box gives the hedgehog somewhere to hide and feel safe. Feeding them a little bit of dog or cat food will go down well, but bear in mind that they do not like bread and milk. How To Pick Up A Hedgehog It’s important to know how to pick up a hedgehog in a way that won’t injure you or it. Handle with care To avoid getting pricked, you can wear thick gardening gloves or use a towel. Put your hands flat either side of the hedgehog, and gently scoop them up. Please bear in mind that you should only pick up injured hedgehogs. You’re not picking them up to pet them, you’re trying to help them. 2) Find The Best Course Of Action To Help Injured Hedgehogs Heal Talking to a wildlife hospital or specialist hedgehog care organisation can help you find out the best course of action. Here are some people you could talk to: The Hedgehog Society St Tiggywinkles Hedgehog Bottom You may find yourself looking after a hedgehog for just a short time, or you may have to care for an overwintered hedgehog until it is strong enough to go back out in the wild. If this is the case, it’s important to stop weak hedgehogs from hibernating. A weight of below 600g by the end of December is considered risky for hibernation, as their fat reserves may not be enough to last them through the winter months.10 It’s good to try to encourage them to forage for their food and to expose them to natural light patterns, so that they don’t get too comfortable or complacent to survive when they go back outside. 3) Be Careful Not To Cause Injuries To Hedgehogs Strimmers and lawn mowers are two common causes of hedgehogs getting seriously injured, and having to be put down. When you fire them up, be careful that the areas you’re strimming or mowing are free of hedgehogs! Hedgehogs can also be injured while taking shelter in compost piles. If you have a compost pile in your garden and you plan to turn it with a pitchfork or similar, check underneath first. They can also become trapped in barbed wire, so if you use any in your garden, have it at a minimum height of 30cm. 4) Leave Some Wild Areas In Your Garden Hedgehogs like to snuffle for insects to eat, and insects are more likely to be found in wild and overgrown areas. By leaving a dedicated wild patch, you give insects somewhere to hang out in your garden. Because hedgehogs are insectivores – meaning they eat insects – they will be attracted to a garden with wild, insected areas. Insects are drawn to overgrown areas, bee hotels, log piles, and freshwater sources. If your freshwater source is a pond, make sure there is a net over the top or an exit ramp at one side. This means that a hedgehog will not drown if it falls in: because despite being good swimmers, they will get tired out and exhausted if they can’t get out. 5) Give Hedgehogs Something To Eat The foods mentioned above (cat food, dog food) can be left outside in a bowl around dusk, as can water. But remember: no bread or milk! Hedgehogs travel far and wide searching for food, and making their search easier will reduce the amount of roads they need to cross. 6) Build A Wooden Hedgehog Home If you want to go a step further in making your garden a safe space for hedgehogs, you can build them somewhere to live. The Wildlife Trusts have some great instructions for building a hedgehog home, which will look something like this11: Image courtesy of The Wildlife Trusts12 All you need to build a hedgehog home is a hammer and nails, some wood, a bit of sheeting, newspaper, and some leaves and soil for insulation. By cleaning your hedgehog home once a year in spring – after hibernation and before they start looking for a mate – you provide a safe, clean shelter for visiting hogs. Make sure the resident hedgehog has moved on before cleaning. If you clean while they’re just out hunting or exploring, they may abandon the home. 7) Build A More Simple Hedgehog Home You can also make a simpler home from a plastic container if you don’t fancy getting the tools out. Again, great instructions are provided by the Wildlife Trust.13 The same cleaning tips apply for a plastic hedgehog home: fresh bedding once a year in springtime. They can also live in compost piles: check out our guide to composting for tips on building a pile. 8) Don’t Disturb Nesting Hedgehogs Mother hedgehogs feed their hoglets for around eight weeks after birth. If their nest is disturbed in this time, the mother may abandon the hoglets, or even eat them. To avoid this gnarly fate, take very careful efforts not to touch or otherwise interfere with the nest. You can leave food nearby to reduce the distance mum has to travel when hunting, but again, be careful not to get your scent too close to the nest. 9) Don’t Return Stray Babies To Their Nest Human scent will mean the mother does not recognise the baby, and they will most likely eat the perceived intruder. If you find a stray hoglet, refer to steps 1 to 3 above. You may have to look after it indoors, or take it to a trained professional for proper care. 10) Connect Gardens With Hedgehog Holes Hedgehogs need to travel to find food, friends, and somewhere to sleep. Fences between gardens are a huge hindrance to their night-time wanderings. The average hedgehog roams up to 2 kilometres a night, which is a long way considering their small size! By giving them a way to move around the neighbourhood more easily, you help to keep them out of harm’s way. If they’re able to travel through gardens and hedges and undergrowth, they don’t have to expose themselves to busy roads. By putting hedgehog holes in your fences you’re becoming part of something bigger than yourself. Over 60,000 people are currently registered on Hedgehog Street – a campaign for connecting gardens in Britain!14 “It sounds such a simple thing but leaving the appropriate size gap under your gate or fence gravel board can make your garden instantly accessible to hedgehogs,” shares Master Horticulturist Dan Ori. “I do this in my own garden and garden projects; if you ever need to talk a gardener into making modifications to help hedgehogs just use the magic words “they eat slugs” and you will have an instant convert.” 11) Avoid Slug Pellets Remember what we said earlier: if you attract hedgehogs to your garden, they can help to control levels of slugs and various other pests that they feed on. If they eat a poisoned slug, they will suffer ill effects.15 Wood preservers on fences can be poisonous for hedgehogs too, so try to avoid these on fences near areas where hedgehogs will be. And keep in mind that hedgehogs can fall into other substances – like paint, sump oil, and chemicals in drains – if they are left uncovered. Make sure to cover anything that an inquisitive hedgehog might investigate. 12) Check Bonfires Carefully Before Lighting Hedgehogs find the stacked wood of a bonfire particularly alluring, so if you build a bonfire pile over time, check for any nesting hedgehogs before lighting it. This will help protect them against being incinerated. In Conclusion… Hedgehogs are gentle, curious creatures that spend their time snuffling for food, exploring, and finding comfortable places to hibernate. Their traditional habitats are at risk, and they have turned to urban areas as a result. This puts them in the way of risks they are not familiar with, but there are a few things we can do to make their lives easier. The steps in this guide will give visiting hedgehogs their best chance at staying safe, well fed, and sheltered in your garden. References 1. Bradford, A. (2015, June 16). Hedgehog Facts. livescience.com. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://www.livescience.com/51221-hedgehog.html 2. Hedgehog Hibernation. (2021, October 14). Hedgehog Street. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://www.hedgehogstreet.org/about-hedgehogs/hibernation/ 3. Amori, G. (2016, September 9). Erinaceus europaeus. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/29650/2791303 4. Henshall, M. (2022b, March 2). The State of Britain’s Hedgehogs 2022. National Biodiversity Network. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://nbn.org.uk/news/the-state-of-britains-hedgehogs-2022/ 5. Legal protection for hedgehogs. (2017, August 2). Hedgehog Street. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://www.hedgehogstreet.org/legal-protection/ 6. Martin, J. (2019, July 7). What do hedgehogs eat. Woodland Trust. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2019/07/what-hedgehogs-eat/ 7. Home. (2022, July 19). The British Hedgehog Preservation Society. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk/ 8. Home. (2023, January 24). Tiggywinkles – Wildlife Hospital. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://www.sttiggywinkles.org.uk/ 9. Home. (n.d.-c). Hedgehog Bottom – Hospital & Rescue. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from http://www.hedgehog-rescue.org.uk/ 10. Hedgehog Fact Sheet – Tiggywinkles. (2021, November 3). Tiggywinkles – Wildlife Hospital. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://www.sttiggywinkles.org.uk/hedgehog-fact-sheet/ 11. How to build a hedgehog home. (n.d.). The Wildlife Trusts. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/actions/how-build-hedgehog-home 12. How to build a hedgehog home. (n.d.). The Wildlife Trusts. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/actions/how-build-hedgehog-home 13. Make A Simple Hedgehog House. (n.d.). Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/sites/default/files/2018-11/SIMPLE-HEDGEHOG-HOUSE.jpg 14. Home. (2022a, March 8). Hedgehog Street. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://www.hedgehogstreet.org/ 15. Helping Hedgehogs. (2022, February 16). The British Hedgehog Preservation Society. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk/helping-hedgehog/
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We Can All Help Butterflies Flourish Again: Just Follow These 12 Ideas From Gardeners
IN THIS GUIDE How Can We Help Butterflies? 1) Don’t Despair 2) Make Your Garden Butterfly-Friendly 3) Create ‘Nectar Bars’ For Passing Pollinators 4) Tell Your Neighbours! 5) Record The Butterflies That Visit 6) Volunteer For Butterfly Counts 7) Teach People About Butterflies 8) Rear Caterpillars 9) Support Landscape-Scale Conservation Projects 10) Support Reintroductions 11) Support The Implementation Of Government Policy 12) Donate To Charities And Organisations Supporting Butterflies What Types Of Butterflies Do We Have In Britain? Why Do We Need Butterflies? What Are The Risks To British Butterflies? References Butterflies are one of nature’s most enchanting creatures. They are colourful, delicate, and graceful. But, sadly, almost all butterfly populations are currently in decline. There are various factors impacting them all at once, and they are struggling to adapt fast enough.1 This guide introduces the butterflies we have in Britain, as well as the threats they are currently facing. There are also twelve ways that you can get involved in helping butterflies to flourish. After reading you’ll have a solid understanding of the issues facing butterflies, and the motivation and knowledge to help! How Can We Help Butterflies? There are glimmers of hope, and these are what we must hold on to. There is widespread – and increasing – awareness of the issue, with several organisations leading the charge. Some populations have bounced back after conservation efforts were implemented.2 Things are moving – and can continue to move – in the right direction. Here are 12 steps you can take to help that happen: 1) Don’t Despair The constant barrage of things to be concerned about can be daunting. But it is vital to hold onto the fact that things are changing. People are becoming more aware, and are demanding action as a result. The next generation have already demanded action from governments and grown-ups.3 By redirecting panic and despair into constructive action – however small – contributes to the solution rather than wallowing in the problem. It is important to bear this quote in mind, from the Butterfly Conservation charity: “The declines of several threatened species appear to have been halted, and a range of species have become more abundant and widespread”.4 2) Make Your Garden Butterfly-Friendly Butterflies will stop off at any garden where they can get a supply of tasty nectar, and gardens are especially important pit-stops between habitats and other green areas. Cosmos are a favourite of butterflies By planting the right plants you can attract butterflies and other pollinators to your garden where they can recharge, hang out, and maybe even breed.5 “If you are wondering if the actions you take in your garden will really make a difference, I can confidently confirm they will,” shares Dan Ori, a Master Horticulturist. “The potential for our gardens to benefit wildlife like butterflies is massive when you accumulate individual efforts, even if we just counted urban residential gardens in Great Britain we would be looking at approximately 520,000 hectares of land.” Here are some pointers for making your garden butterfly-friendly, taken in part from a guide by Butterfly Conservation6: Plant nectar plants in sunny, sheltered spots. Butterflies like warmth! Plant a variety of flowers to appeal to a wider selection of butterflies. You’ve got a big list to choose from, including names like balkan clary, cosmos, French marigold, gayfeather, giant hyssop, calendula, lambs ears, catmint, coneflower, dahlia, shasta daisy, wild marjoram, and many more. Choose plants that flower throughout the year, to attract butterflies in all seasons. Plant nasturtiums near brassicas if you grow vegetables: This could lure caterpillars away from your crops, and give them somewhere safe to grow. Choose other plants that caterpillars like, to give them extra protection. Honeysuckle, jasmine, hop, and clematis are popular contenders. Plant stinging nettles to attract certain butterfly types, and plant them in sunken containers to prevent them spreading across your entire garden. Use organic compost and keep plants watered, so that they thrive for as long as possible. (Avoid peat compost: This is taken from ecosystems where butterflies are in decline, and which should be left alone!) More information can be found in the Gardening for Butterflies leaflet, which has some fantastic ideas.7 You can buy wildflower seed mixes for your garden that contain species beneficial to butterflies.8 3) Create ‘Nectar Bars’ For Passing Pollinators You don’t have to have a garden to be able to help butterflies and other pollinators. A window box will do (or a balcony, roof terrace, front porch, or similar). Putting a nectar bar somewhere on your property is the butterfly equivalent of having a service station on a motorway: It gives them the opportunity to rest and refuel on their journey to somewhere more suited to their needs. All you need to do is to set up a window box or similar sized flowerbed, choose the right flowers, and plant them in the right configuration. Here are some pointers: Plant low-growing plants at the front. This includes things like scabious, cranesbill, and thyme. Plant medium height plants in the middle. Lavender, phlox, and wallflower are ideal candidates. Larger plants should go at the back. Hebe, sunflower, and purpletop will do the trick. This configuration will make it as easy as possible for passing butterflies to identify flowers they like, and will increase the likelihood of them visiting. You can use those guidelines when building butterfly-friendly flowerbeds in your garden, too. 4) Tell Your Neighbours! Helping butterflies and other insects to get between areas with no plants, pollen, or nectar is important in helping them to flourish. If your nectar bar is one of many on your street, butterflies will have more places to stop and refuel on their journeys. A butterfly feeding on some tasty nectar This has the combined benefit of making your street more attractive and colourful, and sparking conversation amongst your neighbours. 5) Record The Butterflies That Visit Identifying the butterflies that come to your garden and recording their visit is a great way to contribute to the data being collected about their populations which, as we’ve seen, is used to plan and inform all sorts of conservation efforts. There is an app for identifying butterflies called iRecord, and you can download it for free through Google9. iRecord automatically submits sighting information once you have confirmed one, and attaches your location via GPS to make your contribution as useful as possible. 6) Volunteer For Butterfly Counts According to the state of the UK’s butterflies 2015 report, tens of thousands of volunteers across 2,000 locations have contributed almost 3 million butterfly distribution records (as of 2015).11 This data is vital in understanding changing butterfly populations, and volunteers are always required. Butterfly habits and numbers are an early indicator of how other animals will respond to changing conditions, so a clear idea of their numbers is super important. On counts, you’ll either be counting butterflies, egg numbers, or larval nests in an area. You’ll have to keep your eyes peeled for chrysalises 7) Teach People About Butterflies This may sound simple, but a lot of people aren’t aware of the enormous variety of butterflies we have in the UK, or the role they play. Show kids butterflies, caterpillars, and chrysalises. Try to demonstrate the wonder of seeing the transformation between the stages of life. Part of the problem that leads to declining animal populations is a disconnect between humans and nature, which leads to disinterest (also called the Nature Deficit).12 Some weird butterfly facts that are sure to pique the interest of even the most stubbornly anti-nature child (or adult!): They transform from caterpillars to butterflies: Two creatures that look completely different. During their transformation, they turn completely into goo and reassemble themselves from scratch. The ‘powder’ on butterflies’ wings is actually tiny scales, which are made from waste products of their bodily processes. These scales regenerate over time.13 They taste through their feet!14 Tapping into this is important for the success of future conservation efforts. 8) Rear Caterpillars The best way to convey the wonder of butterflies’ transformation is to see it in real time. By rearing caterpillars in your home, you can do just that. All you need is a plastic pot with a mesh lid, some peat-free compost, and a cool, dark place to keep their temporary home. When your caterpillars have fed they will turn into a chrysalis, and after a while they will hatch into butterflies. A butterfly hatching 9) Support Landscape-Scale Conservation Projects Such projects, managed by organisations like Butterfly Conservation, are vital to countering declining butterfly numbers.15 Sites must be chosen and managed carefully by a project manager with experience and an understanding of the situation. The entire process is informed by data, partly provided by butterfly counts and similar. Deliberate and well-managed conservation projects have helped species like Duke of Burgundy161718 to see their numbers bounce back. 10) Support Reintroductions The large blue butterfly went extinct in the UK but was successfully reintroduced from a Scandinavian population.19 They are now considered critically endangered, but make a strong case for the reintroduction of animal populations. 11) Support The Implementation Of Government Policy Individual action is great, but for butterflies to truly be protected, the government must implement environmental policies that prioritise their wellbeing. Butterfly Conservation identify several policy points that they feel must be implemented for meaningful change to occur20: Maintain and restore high quality, resilient habitats through landscape-scale projects. Restore the species-focussed approach that has proved effective in reversing the decline of threatened species. While an integrated ‘ecosystem services’ view of biodiversity is important, it alone will not save threatened butterflies. Enhance funding for agri-environment and woodland management schemes targeted at species and habitats of conservation priority. Restore the wider landscape for biodiversity in both rural and urban areas, to strengthen ecosystems and benefit the economy and human welfare. Encourage public engagement through citizen science schemes such as the BNM212223. Increase the use (and monitoring) of landscape-scale projects for threatened wildlife and ensure that funding mechanisms are in place to support them (e.g. landfill tax credits) Supporting organisations with such efforts lends your voice to the cause, and financial contributions give them the power to work harder. 12) Donate To Charities And Organisations Supporting Butterflies If you want to donate financially, here are a few ways to do it: Donate to Butterfly Conservation, whose latest appeal is to save the Duke of Burgundy.24 Donate to the World Wildlife Federation (WWF), who are running a campaign to save the monarch butterfly.25 Donate to the Bee and Butterfly Fund, and support the restoration of pollinator habitats.26 This is a challenge without an easy solution, and it won’t be easy to reverse the damage already done, but all of the steps above will help. Spreading the word will help. Raising awareness, planting plants, donating money, and sharing the wonder of butterflies will all help. We can do this! What Types Of Butterflies Do We Have In Britain? There are a whopping 17,500 species of butterfly in the world, according to the Smithsonian Institute.27 The largest is Queen Alexandra’s birdwing, whose wingspan can be up to 25cm: about the size of the average dinner plate.28 At the other end of the size spectrum is the Western pygmy blue, whose wingspan is about 1.25cm. That’s about the width of your pinky nail.29 Butterflies eat nectar from flowers, and use the energy it contains to fuel all of their day-to-day activities, from hibernating, to mating, to flying. The last one is no small job, either: some butterflies fly all the way to other continents as part of their migrations!30 Here are all the classifications of butterflies, into which all species fall:31 Hesperiidae (skippers) are known and named for their quick and darting movements. They have crochet-hook like antennae clubs, and stocky bodies that make them look more similar to moths than some other butterfly types. Papilionidae (swallowtails) are large and colourful butterflies with forked tails that bring to mind swallows (hence the name). Pieridae (whites and yellows) are often white, yellow, and orange, with black accents. The males “exhibit gregarious mud-puddling behavior when they may imbibe salts from moist soils”. We’re not quite sure what that means, but it sounds intriguing. Lycaenidae (hairstreaks, coppers, and blues) are interesting because their caterpillars have markings at their tail that looks like eyes, which confuses potential predators and gives the caterpillar more time to escape. Riodinidae (metalmarks) are so named because of the metallic-looking markings found on their wings. Nymphalidae (fritillaries, nymphalids, and browns) are the largest butterfly family, and often hold their wings flat when resting rather than keeping them closed together. Hedylidae, who so closely resemble moths that they are often considered to require their own taxonomic family, rather than be classified with butterflies. While there is debate about the suitability of these classifications, they provide enough guidance for spotters to make a good guess at what they’re looking at. The question of which features and variations require different classifications is one that is always present in taxonomy (scientific categorisation of animals), but this isn’t a debate that should concern the casual spotter! What can you expect to see? In the UK we have all of the types mentioned above, except for Hedylidae. We have several types of butterfly population: Residents are native species traditionally found in the UK and whose presence is consistent and expected. Migratory species that visit the UK reliably and regularly. Clouded yellow, red admiral, and painted lady are some common migratory butterflies. Vagrants are species not native to the UK and whose migratory habits do not usually bring them here, but who are sometimes spotted. Exotics are species included in UK population lists, but which aren’t thought to occur or have occurred naturally in the wild. Within these categories, there are two types: Habitat specialist butterflies rely heavily on specific habitats, and are quickly susceptible to decline if their homes are disturbed or destroyed. Wider countryside types are less dependent on individual habitats, and can make themselves comfortable in a wider range of settings. They are less prone to decline through habitat destruction, but they are still at risk. There are about 60 types of butterflies in the UK, which is too many to list here.32 You can find butterfly identification guides online33, or they can be bought quite cheaply34 Here are some common types to keep a lookout for: The Duke of Burgundy, a name whose origins are unknown, and a butterfly that, according to Countryfile, breeds “in shady situations” and “squabbles like mad”. The Pearl-bordered fritillary, a butterfly who enjoys the nectar of the bugle flower, and who lives mainly in woodland clearings. The large blue, a species who went extinct in the UK in 1979, but that was successfully reintroduced from Swedish populations. The swallowtail, a large and colourful butterfly with tropical-looking markings. They enjoy hot weather. The white admiral, a butterfly that thrives on woodland bramble flowers. They are named for their distinctive white band markings. The high brown fritillary, a large and orange butterfly that is, sadly, also declining most quickly. The purple emperor, whose markings make it one of the most impressive butterflies we have. This type of butterfly does not visit flowers, instead taking their moisture from “unsavoury substances” (on whose nature no more information is given). The mountain ringlet, which is the only mountain butterfly in the UK. They get blown about by the wind but they don’t seem to mind. The Adonis blue, a special butterfly whose distinct blue markings are particularly striking. The brown hairstreak, who live high up in ash trees and are difficult to see as a result. An adonis blue butterfly with its particularly striking markings Why Do We Need Butterflies? They’re beautiful, and this has been proven to positively impact humans; just being near butterflies is enough to lift our moods. They are pervasive in our culture, too. They are associated with metamorphosis, and with changing form to something beautiful and proud: Imagery which is seen frequently in various art forms. According to the Butterfly Conservation report mentioned previously, “many people believe that butterflies have an intrinsic value, a right to exist that is not dependent on their value to other species (including humans), and that we have a moral or religious responsibility to prevent their extinction.” Especially when their peril is caused (or made worse) by human activity. As with bees, butterfly populations are seen as a bellwether to gauge the wider condition of the environment. They are the best-studied insect in the UK, and their attractive and non-threatening appearance gives them a widespread public appeal. Their ability to respond quickly to environmental change is especially helpful, because their responses are often indicative of how other species will respond. Because of this, butterfly population trends are used as Government biodiversity indicators, and contribute to the development and assessment of government policy. Butterflies are also pollinators and have a large role to play in the pollination of flowers and crops.35 In our content piece about protecting British bees we go into more detail about what pollination is and why it is important. In short, natural pollinators (water, wind, birds, and insects including butterflies and bees) are responsible for at least a third of human food production.36 Without them, the fruits and vegetables we eat would be much harder to grow, and more expensive as a result. Foods we grow to feed to animals used in farming (for meat and milk) would suffer the same fate. Protecting pollinators and allowing them to flourish is vital if we want to enjoy the same food choices we do today. What Are The Risks To British Butterflies? Butterflies are one of the most quickly declining populations in the natural world, according to a report published in the prestigious journal Science.37 There are seven levels of threat for animals. Of the ten butterflies we introduced earlier: Two are critically endangered. Two are endangered. Two are vulnerable. Four are near threatened. Zero are in the least concern category. This means that every type is under some level of threat. None are widespread and abundant. This is according to the Butterfly Conservation red list.38 Another report published by the Butterfly Conservation charity draws on several professional datasets, to give “a comprehensive and statistically robust evidence-base” on which to make assessments.39 They have found similarly distressing statistics about the decline of the majority of UK butterfly populations. Some of the datasets they use: The UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme (UKBMS) The Butterflies for the New Millennium (BNM) recording scheme Wider Countryside Butterfly Survey Big Butterfly Count What is causing this decline? Falling Numbers In the state of the UK’s butterflies 2022 report, some UK sites where butterflies are monitored have seen a 70% decline in occurrence and a 57% decline in abundance since 1976.40 This means butterflies are found much less frequently than they used to be, and when they are found, they are present in lower numbers. The occurrence and abundance of some butterflies increased in the same period: 47% of species increased in one or both measures.41 Some species have seen incredibly drastic drops in numbers: The instantly recognisable Monarch butterfly saw a 97% decline in populations since the 1980s.42 Where you used to get thriving colonies of monarchs living on trees, now you get a few stragglers. Destruction Of Habitats Intensive agriculture practices and increased demand for land for housing, roads, and other human activities mean that natural habitats are at risk.43 There is very little resistance when places like peat bogs and downland – which aren’t inherently interesting to most humans – are used for development. Changes in woodland management styles are thought to be responsible for declines in other butterfly populations.44 When decisions are made that prioritise certain uses for woodland, animal populations suffer. These two issues are particularly damaging for habitat specialist butterflies, because when their habitats are disrupted or destroyed, they don’t really have anywhere else to go. Wider countryside types are declining too, and this decline is less easily attributed to specific causes. When you consider that 97% of wildflower meadows have been destroyed since the 1940s, it’s not so hard to see why butterflies – even those that can adapt to new habitats – are struggling to readjust.45 Climate Change The spectre present on almost every conservationist’s radar rears its head when talking about butterflies, too.46 Some species adapt to climate change, with warmer summers attributed to increasing populations of some butterfly types. Others, however, see their migration patterns and habits disrupted by changing temperatures.47 Climate change also disrupts the times of year when flowers bloom, which can have knock-on effects for butterflies that fly when their preferred plants are in season (like the pearl-bordered fritillary, who we met earlier, that favours bugle plants). Essentially, unpredictable climate with larger variations in temperature presents various ongoing threats to butterfly populations.48 References 1. Warren, M. J., Maes, D., Van Swaay, C., Goffart, P., Van Dyck, H., Bourn, N. a. D., Wynhoff, I., Hoare, D., & Ellis, S. (2021). The decline of butterflies in Europe: Problems, significance, and possible solutions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 118(2). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2002551117 2. Butterflies bounce back. (2020, March 23). British Trust for Ornithology. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://www.bto.org/community/news/202003-butterflies-bounce-back 3. Taylor, M., Laville, S., Walker, A., Noor, P., & Henley, J. (2019, February 15). School pupils call for radical climate action in UK-wide strike. The Guardian. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/feb/15/uk-climate-change-strike-school-pupils-children-environment-protest 4. The State of the UK’s Butterflies. (2015). Butterfly Conservation. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://butterfly-conservation.org/sites/default/files/soukb-2015.pdf 5. Teasdale, P. (n.d.). A gardener’s guide to butterfly-friendly plants. Natural History Museum. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/gardeners-guide-to-butterflies.html 6. Gardening For Butterflies. (n.d.). Butterfly Conservation. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://butterfly-conservation.org/how-you-can-help/get-involved/gardening/gardening-for-butterflies 7. Gardening For Butterflies. (n.d.-b). Butterfly Conservation. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://butterfly-conservation.org/sites/default/files/1.bc_gardening_leaflet_v3.pdf 8. Wildflower Seeds for bees, butterflies and pollinators. (n.d.). Landlife Wildflowers. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://www.wildflower.co.uk/products/wildflower-seed-species/perfect-for-pollinators-wildflower-seeds/ 9. iRecord Butterflies. (n.d.). Apps on Google Play. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.natural_apptitude.butterfly&pli=1 10. App Store. (2014, February 14). iRecord Butterflies. App Store. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/irecord-butterflies/id815539116 11. The State of the UK’s Butterflies. (2015b). Butterfly Conservation. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://butterfly-conservation.org/sites/default/files/soukb-2015.pdf 12. McKivigan, M. (2020, June 23). ‘Nature Deficit Disorder’ Is Really a Thing. The New York Times. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/23/parenting/nature-health-benefits-coronavirus-outdoors.html 13. Villazon, L. (2020, April 21). What’s the powder on a moth’s wings? BBC Science Focus Magazine. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://www.sciencefocus.com/nature/whats-the-powder-on-a-moths-wings/ 14. CBC Kids Team. (2020, May 27). 5 fun facts about butterflies. CBC Kids. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://www.cbc.ca/kids/articles/five-fun-facts-about-butterflies 15. Homepage. (n.d.-b). Butterfly Conservation. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://butterfly-conservation.org/ 16. Barkham, P. (2019, May 27). The butterfly effect: what one species’ miraculous comeback can teach us. The Guardian. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/may/27/butterfly-miraculous-comeback-save-planet-duke-burgundy 17. BBC News. (2017, April 12). Small pearl-bordered fritillary butterfly numbers boost. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-39569824 18. Butterflies bounce back to best year in over two decades. (2019, February 28). Yorkshire Post. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/people/butterflies-bounce-back-best-year-over-two-decades-2504201 19. Large Blue Butterfly. (n.d.). UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://www.ceh.ac.uk/case-studies/case-study-large-blue-butterfly 20. Recording Strategy. (2015). Butterfly Conservation. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://butterfly-conservation.org/sites/default/files/recording-strategy-2015.pdf 21. Home. (n.d.-b). Butterflies for the New Millennium Online. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://www.butterflyrecording.org/ 22. Welcome to the UKBMS. (n.d.). UKBMS. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://ukbms.org/ 23. Big Butterfly Count. (n.d.). The Butterfly Conservation. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://bigbutterflycount.butterfly-conservation.org/ 24. Dukes on the Edge. (n.d.). Butterfly Conservation. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://butterfly-conservation.org/our-work/conservation-projects/england/dukes-on-the-edge 25. Help Save the Monarch Butterfly. (n.d.). WWF. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://support.worldwildlife.org/site/Advocacy?page=UserActionInactive&id=892 26. Give the gift that grows! (n.d.). The Bee and Butterfly Habitat Fund. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://www.beeandbutterflyfund.org/giftsthatgrow.html 27. Butterflies. (n.d.). Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://www.si.edu/spotlight/buginfo/butterfly 28. Queen Alexandra’s Birdwing: Ornithoptera alexandrae. (2018, October 17). SBBT. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://www.sbbt.org.uk/conservation/queen-alexandras-birdwing/ 29. Western Pygmy Blue | Nature Collective. (2021, March 10). Nature Collective. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://thenaturecollective.org/animal-guide/details/western-pygmy-blue/ 30. Arnold, C. (2021, May 3). This Tiny Butterfly Can Fly a Record 2,500 Miles at a Time. National Geographic. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/animals-butterflies-migrations-europe-africa 31. The Linnaean System. (n.d.). Butterfly Taxonomy. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://www.learnaboutbutterflies.com/Taxonomy.html 32. Butterflies. (n.d.-b). The RSPB. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/other-garden-wildlife/insects-and-other-invertebrates/butterflies/ 33. Oates, M. (2022, July 26). Guide to British butterflies: how to identify and the best places to spot. Countryfile. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://www.countryfile.com/wildlife/insects-invertebrates/guide-to-british-butterflies-how-to-identify-and-the-best-places-to-spot/ 34. Butterflies of Britain. (2022, November 29). Steven Cheshire’s British Butterflies. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://www.britishbutterflies.co.uk/wp/product/butterflies-of-britain-laminated-id-chart/ 35. Why butterflies are beneficial to the environment. (2022, February 9). Good Living. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://www.environment.sa.gov.au/goodliving/posts/2018/12/benefits-of-butterflies 36. Ritchie, H. (2021, August 2). How much of the world’s food production is dependent on pollinators? Our World in Data. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://ourworldindata.org/pollinator-dependence 37. Thomas, J. P., Telfer, M. G., Roy, D., Preston, C., Greenwood, J. J. D., Asher, J., Fox, R., Clarke, R., & Lawton, J. H. (2004). Comparative Losses of British Butterflies, Birds, and Plants and the Global Extinction Crisis. Science, 303(5665), 1879–1881. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1095046 38. Fox, R., Brereton, T., & Warren, M. (2010). The Butterfly Red List for Great Britain. Nature Conservation Committee. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://butterfly-conservation.org/sites/default/files/red-list.pdf 39. The State Of UK Butterflies. (n.d.). British Conservation. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://butterfly-conservation.org/butterflies/the-state-of-britains-butterflies 40. Barkham, P. (2023, February 3). UK butterflies vanish from nearly half of the places they once flew – study. The Guardian. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/feb/03/uk-butterflies-vanish-from-nearly-half-of-the-places-they-once-flew-study 41. The State of the UK’s Butterflies 2022. (2022). Butterfly Conservation. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://butterfly-conservation.org/sites/default/files/2023-01/State%20of%20UK%20Butterflies%202022%20Report.pdf 42. Canon, G. (2018, December 8). “It’s a sad reality”: a troubling trend sees a 97% decline in monarch butterflies. The Guardian. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/dec/07/its-a-sad-reality-a-troubling-trend-sees-a-97-decline-in-monarch-butterflies 43. Harding, J. (2021, May 6). Habitat destruction and butterflies it eliminates. Butterfly Conservation Ireland. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://butterflyconservation.ie/wp/2021/05/06/habitat-destruction-and-the-butterflies-it-eliminates/ 44. Warren, M. J., Maes, D., Van Swaay, C., Goffart, P., Van Dyck, H., Bourn, N. a. D., Wynhoff, I., Hoare, D., & Ellis, S. (2021b). The decline of butterflies in Europe: Problems, significance, and possible solutions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 118(2). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2002551117 45. Gardening For Butterflies. (n.d.-c). Butterfly Conservation. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://butterfly-conservation.org/sites/default/files/1.bc_gardening_leaflet_v3.pdf 46. Birds and butterflies struggle with climate change. (n.d.). UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://www.ceh.ac.uk/news-and-media/news/birds-and-butterflies-struggle-climate-change 47. Monarch Butterflies and Climate Change. (n.d.). World Wildlife Fund. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://www.worldwildlife.org/pages/monarch-butterflies-and-climate-change 48. Hill, G. M., Kawahara, A. Y., Daniels, J. C., Bateman, C. C., & Scheffers, B. R. (2021). Climate change effects on animal ecology: butterflies and moths as a case study. Biological Reviews, 96(5), 2113–2126. https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.12746
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Ecologists Share 15 Ways We Can Actively Help Bees In Our Local Environment
IN THIS GUIDE How We Can Actively Help Bees 1) Don’t Panic! 2) If You See A Bee, Don’t Squash It 3) Let Your Garden Grow Wild 4) Plant Flowers That Bees Like 5) Build A Bee Hotel 6) Get A Beesaver Kit From Friends Of The Earth 7) Give Them Something To Drink 8) Join A Beekeeping Club 9) Get Rid Of Beehives Without Calling The Exterminators 10) Buy Organic 11) Sign Petitions 12) Campaign Directly 13) Support Charities And Organisations 14) Spread The Word 15) Reassure People What Types Of Bees Do We Have In Britain? Why Do We Need Bees? What Are The Risks To British Bees? Examples Of Effective Action To Protect Bees References The sight of bees buzzing around a garden or meadow is one of the first signs of spring in Britain, and a pleasurable reminder of us living in harmony with nature. But our bees are in trouble! There are multiple factors putting bee populations at risk in the UK and around the world. “Any activity regarding the popularisation of the existence of bees is very important,” shares Mariusz Chudy, from the Goldendrops Bee Farm. “By keeping bees at the forefront of our planting we will always have pollinators around our homes.” This guide introduces the bees we have in the UK, the threats they are currently facing, and outlines fifteen ways you can help protect them and prevent further decline. How We Can Actively Help Bees While it may look like bees are up against it from all angles, it’s not all doom and gloom. Far from it. 1) Don’t Panic! This is an important first step. Use the energy as motivation to do something constructive instead. There are lots of examples of humans coming together to nip environmental problems in the bud, or to make meaningful change quickly. The Montreal Protocol is an international agreement to ban CFCs that helped prevent further damage to the ozone layer, which has since seen a good recovery.1 Charging people for carrier bags reduced the amount of bags in circulation by around 80% according to government analysis, that’s over six billion fewer bags.2 Now the trashtag is starting to gain traction, with people picking up as much rubbish as possible from their local area for social media bragging rights.3 2) If You See A Bee, Don’t Squash It Just let it go about its business and it will soon leave you alone. Obviously this isn’t going to contribute much to their wider decline, but every little helps. Some of the threats currently facing bees (and other insects) come from a position of humans not acknowledging or respecting their right to exist or – more cynically – the valuable roles they play for us. A cultural shift toward making decisions that do not actively harm bees and other creatures starts with small steps! If other people – especially children – see you let bees be, they are less likely to be seen as threats. It’s easier to be concerned about the declining numbers of a creature you see as friendly, helpful, and perhaps even cute (for proof of this, just take a look at the list of animals available for adoption through the WWF).4 This attitude trickles down from adults to children. 3) Let Your Garden Grow Wild There are some quick and easy things you can do to make your own garden more appealing for bees, giving them somewhere safe to go about their business. One way to do this is to swap your perfectly manicured lawn for something more natural: Let your grass grow, and let some wildflowers take hold. Clover, thyme, and dandelions are particular bee favourites. “Don’t mow so much,” says Bee Ecologist Dave Goulson. “Some people really struggle to get used to the idea of shaggier lawns with flowers in them, but they are beautiful.” How does your garden grow? “‘The British Beekeepers’ Association encourages everyone to partake in No Mow May to allow plants like dandelions to flower in the lawn,” shares Diane Drinkwater, the current Chair of the British Beekeepers Association. “This benefits all pollinators, not just the honey bees.” “People are slowly getting the message with things like No Mow May, which is really good, but there is still this long tradition of growing lawns that are really neat,” adds Dave. “In terms of resistance to drought and capturing carbon as well as biodiversity, it’s crazy to mow lawns and maintain a pure monocle of green grass.” Put away the weed killer, mow the lawn less frequently, and have a natural sprinkling of colour in your garden: It doesn’t sound too bad to us! 4) Plant Flowers That Bees Like “Growing bee-friendly plants is really important, whether it’s a pot of herbs left to flower or a tree, every flower helps,” Diane Drinkwater says. If you want to give bees more incentive to visit your garden, the Royal Horticultural Society has several lists of plants that, when planted, will attract bees and other insects into your garden.5 These are hand-picked selections based on “scientific evidence, extensive experience, and the records of gardeners and beekeepers.” There are three lists, each broken down into different categories to give you a really good idea of what to plant, and where and when to plant it: Garden plants: This list is broken down into seasons, with categories for winter, spring, summer, and autumn. Some of the more exciting-sounding plants on this list include Spanish traveller’s joy, Sargent’s crabapple, bottlebrush buckeye, and tansy-leaf aster.6 Wildflowers: This list is broken down into types of ground, with categories for short grass; hedges, shrub borders, and woodland edges; disturbed ground; flower beds; long grass (above 50cm); medium height grass (up to 50cm); ponds, pond margins, and wet soils; and shingle/gravel garden. On this list, you can find such names as water plantain, Jacob’s ladder, bogbean, hound’s tongue, and pignut.7 Plants of the world: This list is broken down by plant regions, with categories for UK native plants, Northern Hemisphere plants, and Southern Hemisphere plants. Expect to see such favourites as blue eryngo, Mediterranean spurge, slender vervain, hebe, and love-in-a-mist.8 “I know it is cliche, but the more bee-friendly wild flowers, the better,” shares William Roberts, owner of WR Bees. “Flowers that are easy to grow, have a long flowering season and are colourful, such as marigold, cosmos and Russian vine, are great choices. “If you want to attract bees to your garden, have as many flowers as possible. The more colourful, overgrown and natural, the more pollinators you will attract.” Different bees are attracted to different types of flower, so if you’re really keen you can figure out the ideal list of plants to attract the bees you’re most interested in seeing. “My advice is to plant long flowering shrubs that pollinators like, and although native plants are important, I encourage you to plant the world in your garden for the best benefit to pollinators.,” advises Master Horticulturist Dan Ori. “Based on recent research, the data supports the RHS position that planting a mix of native and non-native flowering plants in your garden can be more beneficial than just native plants. “The benefit of planting non-natives is that they often flower when natives don’t, thus providing important pollen and nectar for pollinators. Shrubs can be easily overlooked when we think of plants for bees, but many shrubs are excellent for bees and other pollinators. “Planting shrubs that flower at different or overlapping periods is the best approach and you will get the bonus of seasonal interest to enjoy in your garden.” The Friends of the Earth bee identification guide has more information on this.9 You can also check out some of the best plants to help pollinators in the Bios Urn guide.10 This step has the added extra benefit of improving your gardening credentials, and making your garden pop just that little bit harder. 5) Build A Bee Hotel This type of hotel doesn’t require any construction, planning permission, or licensing. Just some wood, a couple of tools, and a free afternoon. There’s room at the inn Making a bee hotel is easy and it’s a great activity for teaching kids about the importance of bees. The finished hotel doesn’t need to be as big as the one in the picture, either. They work just as well in shoebox size.11 “Bee hotels are reasonably effective for attracting solitary bees,” shares Dave. “You can hang them on a wall or fence and they don’t take up any space and, with a bit of luck, you’ll get a bunch of bees.” Attracting a few extra bees to your garden might not feel like much, but it contributes to momentum. In the same way that drinking soya milk didn’t feel like much, but now there are multiple shelves of non-dairy milks available in supermarkets. These things take time. People will ask questions about your plants or your bee hotel and you can use this as an unobtrusive way to spread the word. 6) Get A Beesaver Kit From Friends Of The Earth If you donate to Friends of the Earth they will send you a bee-saver kit, which includes the following12: Wildflower seeds to attract bees to your garden, as detailed above. A garden planner that tells you which plants to grow in each month, so you can have a bee-friendly garden all year round. A bee spotter guide to help you identify the new bees that visit your garden. A step-by-step guide with tips on how to protect bees. Bee postcards to send to friends and family: A nice gift, and it helps raise awareness! This makes a great present for kids, especially the bee spotter guide: Remember collecting bugs when you were younger? The mild thrill of finding creepy crawlies in your garden is something that every generation should be able to enjoy. 7) Give Them Something To Drink “One thing that can really help the bees in our gardens is to provide a drink to keep them hydrated,” shares Diane Pitchford from Harrogate and Ripon Beekeepers Association. “The importance of this can’t be underestimated. “If you have a pond in your garden that’s ideal, but most of us don’t, so a great thing to do is to put out a shallow dish and keep it topped up with water. “To prevent bees from drowning, put one or two stones in the dish which come above the water line. “This way, the bees can land on the stones and move down to the water to drink.” 8) Join A Beekeeping Club Many beekeeping clubs offer introductory courses or taster sessions, where you can learn about how to safely keep bees. When you visit the apiary – the yard where bees and hives are kept – you’ll get a great insight into how honeybees do their thing. A beekeeper in action Tending bees under the instruction of an experienced beekeeper means you won’t get stung, and that you can have questions answered by someone who knows their stuff. 9) Get Rid Of Beehives Without Calling The Exterminators Not many people want to be directly responsible for a beehive, especially if it’s one that bees have built in your house without permission. The traditional way to get rid of such hives is to give the pest control people a call, but there are other ways! Calling a local beekeeper to ask them to remove the hive is one such option. This is a great win-win-win situation: You benefit from not having bees, the beekeeper benefits from having more bees, and the bees benefit from not being killed. 10) Buy Organic Organic farming uses different practices to intensive farming, many of which are actively helpful for bees. The International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements defines organic as “a production system that sustains the health of soils, ecosystems and people”, and one that “relies on ecological processes, biodiversity and cycles adapted to local conditions, rather than the use of inputs with adverse effects”. The adverse effects include those outlined earlier in the ‘Industrial agriculture’ section. 11) Sign Petitions It may seem futile, but the government are obliged to respond to petitions hosted on the government website that receive over 10,000 signatures and to consider debating those that receive over 100,000.13 Petitions contribute to awareness, too. When you see one on social media, even if you don’t sign it brings the issue to your mind. Sometimes local or even national newspapers cover petitions that are gaining a lot of traction. 12) Campaign Directly If you feel strongly, you can campaign directly for things like ecological farming. Removing pesticides doesn’t reduce the effectiveness of farming, either. George Monbiot says of pesticides that “their advantages vanish in the face of more sophisticated methods such as integrated pest management”.14 The sentiment is also backed by a UN report and an article in Nature, one of the world’s most prominent journals, that found yields would increase without pesticides.15 13) Support Charities And Organisations If you don’t have the energy or resource to campaign directly, you can support charities and organisations who can do it on your behalf. The SOS Bees campaign by Greenpeace wants to ban the use of bee-harming pesticides, support and promote agricultural practices that benefit pollination services within agriculture systems, improve the conservation of natural and semi-natural habitats, and increase funding for research development and application of ecological farming practices.16 Friends of the Earth has multiple plans to help bee populations.17 The Soil Association want to support sustainable farming practices, ones that would have a less negative impact on bees and their habitats.18 14) Spread The Word A lot of people don’t know about the existential threat to bees -so spread the word! Knowledge is power, and conversation is a great way to spread it. If you come across somebody who thinks it’s not “financially viable” to save the bees, tell them that the economic value of their activity has been estimated at around €265 billion annually.19 15) Reassure People Often the people who do are worried or panicked. Show them this piece and let them know there are positive steps that can be taken. The final section of this guide is especially relevant for this. What Types Of Bees Do We Have In Britain? There are over 16,000 types of bee on Earth, ranging in size from the 2mm long meliponines worker bee right up to Wallace’s giant bee, which has a wingspan of around 6cm. To put that into perspective, it’s bigger than a standard Jaffa Cake. About 270 species have been recorded in Britain (and thankfully the Wallace’s giant bee isn’t among them!).20 Some of our bees are common and familiar, while others are extraordinarily rare. Some species are social – living in colonies – and others live a more solitary existence. The Woodland Trust notes a few of the types you’re most likely to come across on their site.21 Bumblebees are the bees you most commonly see buzzing around in flower beds, parks, and gardens. There are many types which, to the untrained observer, may be quite difficult to distinguish (they are all some variation of black and yellow). They all have slightly different seasons and nesting habits: Banded white-tailed bumblebees come out from May to November, and nest in old animal burrows and other similar holes. Early bumblebees come out in March to June and also like old burrows and holes. Red-tailed black bees come out in April to November, and nest in old burrows or tussocks (lumps of dry grass). Despite the name, they have yellow tails. Brown carder bees are around from March to November and nest in tussocks. Tree bumblebees come out from March to July and live in above-ground holes (like those you might find in tree trunks). Shrill carder bees come out from May to September and nest in tussocks. They are quite rare! Honeybees are the only type of bee to make the type of honey eaten by humans, which is the end product of the nectar they use for food. Nectar is passed between bees to provide sustenance, and each extracts a bit of the water in the mixture. Ellen from West Plains Beekeepers Association describes this process in more depth: “as bees transfer nectar from one to another, enzymes are added breaking down the sugar and removing some of the water, but not all of it. More water is removed through evaporation by the nurse bees in the hive before being capped.” The majority of honeybees live in managed hives, and the most common species – the Western honeybee – is a result of human domestication. It is unusual to find a truly wild honeybee colony. Mason bees are solitary bees. This means they live alone rather than being part of a colony in a hive. These bees do not produce honey or wax. Here are some types you might encounter in the UK: Wool carder bees Red mason bees Long-horned bees Hairy-footed flower bees Common mourning bees: This type of bee acts as a parasite for the hairy-footed flower bee, invading their nests and laying eggs in their broods. Small scissor bee: This is the smallest bee you’ll find in Britain. Leafcutter bees: These critters cut sections from leaves to use as nest-building materials. A leafcutter bee in action There is another set of bees called mining bees. These guys are ground nesters, building their homes underground. Some types to look out for: Tawny mining bees: They build mounds at the entrance of their nesting sites. Ashy mining bees: Each female has her own nest. Orange-tailed mining bees A mining bee digging its hole Then, there are insects that look like bees. Wasps are the most common, but hoverflies and bee flies also fit the bill. Bee flies are a parasite, with the females putting eggs into bee burrows so that their young may eat the collected pollen. Why Do We Need Bees? Bees help humans in a bunch of ways. Honeybees make honey – which is obviously delicious – but this is just a side product of all species’ most useful activity: Pollinating plants. By ferrying pollen between plants while they collect pollen and nectar for food, bees aid reproduction in plants. Pretty much every plant-based food humans eat is naturally tended by bees, including vegetables, oils, spices, and even edible flowers. Bees also pollinate plants that are used for animal fodder, meaning that meat and dairy production would be impacted by a decline in their numbers. What Is Pollination? To make seeds, ‘female’ plants need the pollen created by ‘males’. The terms male and female may seem strange when talking about plants, but the way plants reproduce isn’t that different from animals. Pollen created in the ‘male’ plant’s anther is used by the ‘female’ plant’s stigma. Outside of 50s sci-fi B-movies, though, plants can’t walk. So they need help moving their pollen around. Bees are one of nature’s pollinators, along with the wind, water, birds, insects, and other animals. The wind scoops pollen out of plants and carries it around, meaning some of it will land on other plants. Bees, birds, and other insects move pollen manually from one plant to another as a byproduct of their own activities. Because bees spend a lot of time moving between flowers, they are very effective pollinators. Why Is Pollination Important? Greenpeace sum it up quite nicely: “A third of all our food depends on their pollination. A world without pollinators would be devastating for food production.” As bee numbers decline and other methods become necessary for pollinating plants, crops dependent on pollinators become more expensive. This has a knock-on effect through human food chains, impacting all sorts of foods. Bees also play important roles in various ecosystems and food chains, meaning that they are prey for predators. If one element of a food chain reduces in numbers it has upward effects, meaning problems for animals that feed on bees (birds, badgers, skunks, foxes, bears, and mice to name but a few). What Are The Risks To British Bees? Sadly, bees are being impacted of the ominously-named Insectaggedon, an observed phenomenon in which 76% of insects have disappeared over the past few decades. 23 There has been a 40% loss of commercial honeybee populations in the US since 2006, and a 25% loss in Europe since 1985.24 Britain is not faring any better, unfortunately: 45% of our honeybees have been lost since 2010. Those sobering statistics are taken from a Greenpeace report.25 (Note: Lots of the information in this piece comes from Greenpeace. If you’re not familiar with them, they commission studies to gather empirical evidence about environmental issues, then campaign accordingly.) But Where Are The Bees Going? The same report states the main causes of bee decline as industrial agriculture, parasites and pathogens, and climate change. “The loss of biodiversity, destruction of habitat and lack of forage due to monocultures and bee-killing pesticides are particular threats for honeybees” it says, before continuing: “It is becoming increasingly evident that some insecticides, at concentrations applied routinely in the current chemical-intensive agriculture system, exert clear, negative effects on the health of pollinators – both individually and at the colony level.” In short, if things carry on as they are, bees are in trouble. Let’s look at each in a bit more detail, to see what we’re up against. Take a deep breath, because some of this is quite heavy: Industrial Agriculture Modern industrial agriculture often relies on the use of pesticides. These chemicals come with daunting names like imidacloprid, thiamethoxam, clothianidin, fipronil, chlorpyriphos, cypermethrin, and deltamethrin. You can tell just by reading that those aren’t friendly. A report found that “half the colonies exposed to neonicotinoids disappeared in the course of one winter; none of the untreated swarms vanished.” Neonicotinoids include the first three chemicals in the list above, and were used on a huge percentage of crops: Between 2011 and 2014, 100% of corn crops and 40% of soybean crops were treated with the chemical.26 “Neonicotinoids have been banned in the UK so they will no longer be used unless emergency use is authorised,” explains Dan. “An example of this would be the use of seed treatment of sugar beet authorised by the UK government in 2022.”27 Pesticides harm non-pests, too Requirements for vast tracts of farmland also leads to the destruction of natural habitats, including grassland and woodland. When these areas naturally provide bees with a place to live, their destruction for farming means that bees are forced to live elsewhere. “Don’t spray pesticides,” says Dave. “I don’t think anybody needs pesticides in the garden. I’ve been gardening without pesticides for many years. “You just need to be a little tolerant to aphids on your plants, but usually something else will come in and eat them pretty quickly.” Parasites And Pathogens The ability of bees – individual and collective – to resist parasites and pathogens decreases when they are under stress. The type of stress caused by having their natural habitats destroyed, incidentally. The University of Western Australia’s Centre for Integrative Bee Research (CIBER) investigated how one fungal parasite – Nosema apis – affected bees and found that infection reduced flight time and, by extension, the range of distance within which plants could be pollinated.28 There are more parasites, too: Varroa mites. These creatures, which look a bit like ticks, infiltrate broods of bee colonies – the area where eggs and developing young are kept. The mite lays its own eggs amongst the brood, while feeding on the developing bees. Varroa infestation can destroy a colony within 1-2 years if no action is taken. Tracheal mites infest the trachea (or windpipe) of adult bees, where they live, breed, and feed on the hemolymph (a fluid that plays a similar role to blood in humans). This infestation eventually results in the bee’s death due to disruption with oxygen exchange. The Asian hornet (Vespa velutina) has become a concern since 2016 in the UK, as this non-native is a highly effective predator of insects including bees.29 Most sightings of the Asian hornet since 2020 have been in the south and east of England, but it does appear that this predator is here to stay and is spreading through the UK. You can help in the battle to control Asian hornets by reporting any you spot here. Climate change Further destruction of habitats is caused by climate change. A 2015 study found that bee habitats have shrunk by nearly 200 miles in North America and Europe.30 Changing temperatures also leads to slight variations in the usual seasonal timings of plants producing pollen. This disruption in natural rhythms impacts bees and can negatively affect their health. Parasites that harm bees seem to prefer warmer temperatures, so any rise in temperature attributed to climate change has the knock-on effect of making parasites more hardy. It seems climate change exacerbates all the issues already facing bees. “Gardening to extend the availability of nectar right to the end of the growing season is also a big help to our bees,” shares Diane. “Going into the colder months with good honey stores, when there is little forage for them in the garden, will help a colony to get through the winter. “For example, hardy fuchsias flower strongly through to the end of the season along with annuals such as sunflowers and cosmos, all providing a good source of nectar for bees well into October.” Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), which is just as alarming as it sounds, is one example of the outcome of the stressors mentioned here. When a colony is affected, the worker bees suddenly abandon the queen and the hive. There is no agreed cause for this phenomenon, but the list of possibilities includes some familiar names: Infections with Varroa mites Malnutrition from loss of habitat Various pathogens Genetic factors Immunodeficiencies Loss of habitat Changing beekeeping practices Neonicotinoids Or, “a combination of factors” Examples Of Effective Action To Protect Bees A recent petition in Bavaria, Germany, forced the government to implement policies committing to protecting bees.31 The SOS Bees campaign by Greenpeace outlines 23 solutions being implemented in countries across Europe, including32: Insecticide-free methods of reducing beetle counts on crops, to reduce reliance on pesticides. The use of permaculture practices to create more bee-friendly farming. Analysis of soils to determine the amount of fertiliser required, to reduce unnecessary soil damage. Cultivation of oranges and lemons, which are attractive to bees. Some people claim that the threat to bees has gone. This contradicts the majority of research we’ve read, and the sources given by people making this claim usually don’t hold up to as much scrutiny as names like The Royal Horticultural Society, Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, the journal Nature, and so on. That’s not to say they’re wrong, necessarily, just that we don’t think the risk has disappeared. And even if bee numbers are recovering, all of the things we’ve written about have other benefits for humans, too. Ecological farming is more resilient and less harmful to animals and ecosystems. Planting more – and more varied – flowers in your garden is nice. Together we can – and will! – save the bees. References 1. The Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer – United States Department of State. (2021, January 5). United States Department of State. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://www.state.gov/key-topics-office-of-environmental-quality-and-transboundary-issues/the-montreal-protocol-on-substances-that-deplete-the-ozone-layer/#:~:text=The%20Montreal%20Protocol%2C%20finalized%20in,%2Ddepleting%20substances%20(ODS). 2. Carrier bags: why there’s a charge. (2021, May 21). GOV.UK. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/single-use-plastic-carrier-bags-why-were-introducing-the-charge/carrier-bags-why-theres-a-5p-charge 3. BBC News. (2019, March 12). #Trashtag: The online challenge cleaning places up. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-47536861 4. Help Bring Our World Back To Life. (n.d.). WWF. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://support.wwf.org.uk/ 5. Plants for Pollinators advice and downloadable lists. (n.d.-b). Royal Horticultural Society. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://www.rhs.org.uk/science/conservation-biodiversity/wildlife/plants-for-pollinators 6. Get your garden buzzing. (n.d.). RHS Plants for Pollinators. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://rhs.org.uk/science/pdf/conservation-and-biodiversity/wildlife/plants-for-pollinators-garden-plants.pdf 7. RHS Plants for Pollinators: British wildflowers. (n.d.). RHS. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://www.rhs.org.uk/science/pdf/conservation-and-biodiversity/wildlife/plants-for-pollinators-wildflowers.pdf 8. Plants Of The World. (n.d.). RHS Plants for Pollinators. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://www.rhs.org.uk/science/pdf/conservation-and-biodiversity/wildlife/plants-for-pollinators-plants-of-the-world.pdf 9. Bee identification guide. (n.d.). Friends of the Earth. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://friendsoftheearth.uk/nature/bee-identification-guide 10. Bees, Butterflies, and Hummingbirds: What to plant to help pollinators. (2020, January 30). Bios Urn. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://urnabios.com/bees-butterflies-hummingbirds-plant-to-help-pollinators/ 11. Activities for children – making bee hotels. (n.d.). Royal Horticultural Society. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://www.rhs.org.uk/education-learning/gardening-children-schools/family-activities/Activities/activities/make-a-bee-hotel 12. Donate today for your Bee Saver Kit. (n.d.). Friends of the Earth. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://friendsoftheearth.uk/donate/bee-saver-kit 13. Petitions. (n.d.). UK Government and Parliament. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://petition.parliament.uk/ 14. Monbiot, G. (2014, July 15). Another Silent Spring? Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://www.monbiot.com/2014/07/15/another-silent-spring/ 15. Lechenet, M., Dessaint, F., Py, G., Makowski, D., & Bàrberi, P. (2017). Reducing pesticide use while preserving crop productivity and profitability on arable farms. Nature Plants, 3(3). https://doi.org/10.1038/nplants.2017.8 16. Save the Bees. (n.d.). Greenpeace USA. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/sustainable-agriculture/save-the-bees/ 17. The Bee Cause: Are bees endangered? (n.d.). Friends of the Earth. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://friendsoftheearth.uk/bees 18. Homepage. (n.d.). Soil Association. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://www.soilassociation.org/ 19. Greenpeace UK. (2022, February 1). Bees. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/challenges/bees/ 20. Identify solitary bees in the UK. (2018, July 25). The Wildlife Trusts. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/blog/ryan-clark/identify-solitary-bees-uk#:~:text=In%20Britain%20we%20have%20around,like%20bumblebees%20and%20honey%20bees. 21. Varela, C. (2019, May 14). Types of bee in the UK. Woodland Trust. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2019/05/types-of-bee-in-the-uk/ 22. Monbiot, G. (2017, October 20). Insectageddon: farming is more catastrophic than climate breakdown. The Guardian. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/oct/20/insectageddon-farming-catastrophe-climate-breakdown-insect-populations 23. Monbiot, G. (2017b, October 20). Insectageddon: farming is more catastrophic than climate breakdown. The Guardian. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/oct/20/insectageddon-farming-catastrophe-climate-breakdown-insect-populations 24. Bees In Decline. (2011). Greenpeace. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://www.greenpeace.org/static/planet4-international-stateless/2013/04/66f3eb6b-beesindecline.pdf 25. Greenpeace UK. (2022b, February 1). Bees. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/challenges/bees/ 26. Tooker, JF. (2018, June 26). Why it’s time to curb widespread use of neonicotinoid pesticides. The Conversation. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://theconversation.com/why-its-time-to-curb-widespread-use-of-neonicotinoid-pesticides-96620 27. Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs. (2023, February 16). Neonicotinoid product as seed treatment for sugar beet: emergency authorisation application 2023. GOV.UK. Retrieved August 22, 2023, from https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/neonicotinoid-product-as-seed-treatment-for-sugar-beet-emergency-authorisation-application 28. University of Western Australia. (2016, November 15). Concern over parasites affecting honey bees. Phys.org. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://phys.org/news/2016-11-parasites-affecting-honey-bees.html 29. Species alerts. (n.d.-b). Non-Native Species. Retrieved August 22, 2023, from https://www.nonnativespecies.org/non-native-species/species-alerts/#Species_53 30. Kerr, J. T., Pindar, A., Galpern, P., Packer, L., Potts, S. G., Roberts, S. K., Rasmont, P., Schweiger, O., Colla, S. R., Richardson, L. L., Wagner, D., Gall, L. F., Sikes, D. S., & Pantoja, A. (2015). Climate change impacts on bumblebees converge across continents. Science, 349(6244), 177–180. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaa7031 31. Purdy, L. (2019, April 4). Grassroots bee petition forces greener farming measures in Bavaria – Positive News. Positive News. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://www.positive.news/environment/grassroots-bee-petition-forces-greener-farming-measures-in-bavaria/ 32. S.O.S. For Honeybees. (2019, August 18). Essex WI. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://essexwi.org.uk/s-o-s-honeybees/
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