The Bees Knees
Let’s face it we need Bees, without them our food supply is detrimentally affected along with all of those beautiful flowers we love to have in our gardens. We absolutely need bees to pollinate, there are however a few caveats to consider before you go gung-ho on creating a garden where every plant will attract the little buzzers.
Children, especially younger ones, and animals often don’t have the understanding that Bees have a rather unpleasant sting, so when looking to create your bee attracting garden it may be prudent to keep this in mind.
Planting your bee garden next to the children’s or pet’s play space could be asking for trouble, if your child or pet has allergies or you are unlucky enough to find out they do only when they are stung is not a situation you want to find your self in. However, there are ways you can keep both the bees and your precious ones happily co-existing.
Fortunately, most flowers, vegetables and shrubs or flowering trees WILL attract bees to your garden, but you can plan your garden space so that they will prefer to keep their visits to preselected areas and not be flying haphazardly throughout the garden.
Heathers, Lavender, Lilacs, Wallflowers and Forget-me-nots are all perennials that bees love and can be perfect for a low maintenance garden. While spring crocus can not only provide a first food source but can also give the bee shelter from the elements, Hyacinths will also provide a wonderful early source of nectar for the bees as well a creating a visually stunning and headily scented garden in the spring.
Herbs such as Marjoram, Chives, Sage and Rosemary are also a favourite food source and even fruits and veg like Strawberries, Raspberries and the hardy Runner bean will be much appreciated in the Bee world. Proving you don’t have to fill the garden with wall to wall flowers to feel you contributing to the biodiversity of the planet.
Not only are we doing our part to protect the environment and ensure a bountiful harvest for our food source, but we are also benefiting from the honey they produce. Honey comes in many nuanced flavours and this is all down to the flowers the bees collect their nectar from.
Who knows after creating your very own Bee Garden you might just want to look into becoming a small scale beekeeper so you have the fruits of your work in ready supply.
If you would like to find out how you too can create a flourishing ‘Bee Garden’ then get in touch with us at www.goldlandscaping.co.uk and we can bring your visions to life.
