Here are the BBKA’s five easy steps everyone can take to help pollinators:
Plant more flowers, trees and shrubs
Let your garden grow a little wild
Cut your grass less often
Avoid disturbing insect nests and hibernation spots
Think carefully before using pesticides
Planting for year‑round forage Gardening brings enormous pleasure, but it also provides vital food sources for bees, butterflies and other pollinators. Whatever your style of gardening, you can create a rich, season‑long buffet with a little planning.
Early season: Snowdrops, grape hyacinth and crocus
Summer: Allium, salvia, cotoneaster, verbena, rudbeckia and cosmos
Late season: Sedum and ivy
Winter: Heather, mahonia and hellebores
The BBKA recommends choosing single, open flowers, which allow pollinators easy access to nectar and pollen. Planting in clusters makes flowers easier for insects to locate and also helps suppress weeds. Regular deadheading, good watering (rainwater from a water butt is …