How to Create a Bee-Friendly Garden

It’s not just us that loves to spend time in the garden, bees do too! Want to make your garden more bee-friendly? Read on for several tips that will help to make your garden a great place for these pollinators. Here are 6 ways to create a bee-friendly garden.

1. Choose Plants that Bees Love

Plants with nectar and pollen are perfect for a bee-friendly garden. Top plants for bees include native wildflowers, herbs, fruits, and vegetables. If you have space for trees, fruit trees are ideal. Grouping the same types of plants together is a great way to attract bees and they particularly like the color purple. Plants that don’t have lots of petals are usually best, as they make it easier for bees to access the nectar.

Some examples of plants that bees love include:

• Lavender
• Sunflowers
• Wisteria
• Poppies
• Honeysuckle
• Mint
• Rosemary
• Lemon Balm
• Clematis

This is just a small selection – there are so many more to choose from! One of the charitable organizations we’re proud to support is Pollinator Partnership, and they’ve got lots of helpful information to encourage the planting of bee-friendly plants.

2. Have Flowers in Bloom Each Season

Planting flowers that bloom at different times of the year doesn’t just make for a pretty garden each season, but also provides nectar and pollen for the bees too! This will transform your garden into a blooming paradise that caters to bees for a much longer period.

3. Don’t Use Pesticides

Many of the chemicals found in pesticides and herbicides are toxic to bees, and can kill them, so it’s a good idea to use none of them at all in your garden. It’s believed that pesticides are one of the main causes for reduced bee populations, so it’s more important than ever to reduce their use. There are many plant combinations that help to repel pests, which is a much more bee-friendly option, plus better for other creatures including hummingbirds.

4. Let the Weeds Grow!

Bees love flowering weeds! If letting weeds take over your garden isn’t for you, perhaps allocating a space where you can let the weeds grow would be a good compromise.

5. Provide a Source of Water

Providing a shallow source of water will help to keep bees hydrated. You could fill a tray or shallow bowl with some rocks for bees to stand on to drink.

6. Make a Bee Hotel

Now that the bees are fed and watered, how about offering them some shelter too? Providing a bee hotel will help to attract solitary bees. Although the name ‘bee hotel’ might conjure up images of a short stay, a bee hotel is actually going to provide long-term accommodation! Hollow canes in a plant pot works well, or you could get creative and make a house-shaped creation – the choice is yours. The bee hotel needs to be kept in a sheltered and sunny spot.

We hope this provides some inspiration for how to create a bee-friendly garden! Want to show the bees some extra support? Our bee collections show off beautifully drawn bee designs on shirts, hoodies, tote bags, and more! Plus every order funds the planting of trees and donates to charitable organizations, including Pollinator Partnership. Shop with us today to help save the bees!