How to help wildlife at work
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Attracting wildlife to your work will help improve their environment – and yours!
Many of our prettiest insects feed on nectar, so need flowering plants for their survival. Butterflies, moths, bees and hoverflies all need sources of nectar and pollen to thrive. As they travel from flower to flower, they also pollinate them, enabling them to set seed or bear fruit. So, setting up a nectar café benefits both your plants and you, allowing you to enjoy the flitting and fluttering of beautiful butterflies.
Setting up a nectar café not only benefits your garden, but allows you to enjoy the fluttering of beautiful butterflies too
Setting up your nectar café:
- Choose a sheltered sunny spot
- Place each plant in groups or drifts so that the colour and scent are easy to detect
- Prolong the flowering season – select plants so that you have a show of flowers from early spring to late autumn
- choose flowers with a simple (often flat) structure, like old cottage varieties, as they are the easiest for insects to feed from
- Remember to provide a night-time feast for moths. Plant some night-scented flowers.
- Add herbs to the mix as they are highly attractive to insects, or design a dedicated herb garden
Nectar plant suggestions
| Early season | Mid season | Late season |
| Aubretia spp | Heather - Erica cinerea | Coneflower - Echinacea spp. |
| English bluebell - Hyacinthoides non-scripta | Lady’s bedstraw - Galium verum | French marigold - Tagetes patula |
| Currant - Ribes spp. | Lavender - Lavandula angustifolia | Golden rod - Solidago spp. |
| Grape hyacinth - Muscari armeniacum | Common mallow - Malva sylvestri | Honeysuckle - Lonicera periclymenum |
| Lungwort - Pulmonaria officinalis | Purple toadflax - Linaria purpurea | Ice plant - Sedum spectabile |
| Primrose - Primula vulgaris | Rock cress - Arabis spp. | Ivy - Hedera helix |
| Sweet violet - Viola odorata | Sea holly - Eryngium maritimum | Meadow saffron - Colchicum autumnale |
| Winter aconite - Eranthis hyemalis | Verbena - Verbena bonariensis | Michaelmas daisy - Aster pyrenaeus |
| Wood anemone - Anemone nemorosa | Wallflower - Erysimum cheiri | Common sunflower - Helianthus annuus |
| Alyssum - Alyssum montanum | Red valerian - Centranthus ruber |
As a charity we rely on you
We look after over 90 nature reserves across the county.
More ways you can help bees
How to make a bee hotel
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Solitary bees are important pollinators and a gardener’s friend. Help them by building a bee hotel for your home or garden and watch them buzz happily about their business.
How to grow a wild patch or mini meadow
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Whether it's a flowerpot, flowerbed, wild patch in your lawn, or entire meadow, planting wildflowers provides vital resources to support a wide range of insects that couldn't survive in urban areas otherwise. It is also a great way of avoiding tools such…
How to attract bumblebees to your garden
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The best plants for bumblebees! Bees are important pollinating insects, but they are under threat. You can help them by planting bumblebee-friendly flowers.
Grow wildlife-friendly herbs
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Planting herbs will attract important pollinators into your garden, which will, in turn, attract birds and small mammals looking for a meal.
How to make a hedge for wildlife
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Hedges provide important shelter and protection for wildlife, particularly nesting birds and hibernating insects.