Plants bees love!

Bees are a vital part of the global ecosystem and it is our job as gardeners to provide a safe haven for them in our gardens. If you, like us, love bees, continue reading to learn how to create a bee-friendly garden and which plants to grow to encourage bee-visitation to your garden.

Creating a bee-friendly garden involves providing a safe and healthy garden where they can happily breed and forage. There are numerous ways in which you can create safe spaces for solitary bees to nest in your garden, one of those ways include adding a Solitary Bee Hotel to your garden.

A bouquet of flowers in a vase on a table

When it comes to providing sustenance and forage for these pollinating powerhouses, you have to ensure that bees have access to water, pollen and nectar, consistently. If you can create a garden that will provide these vital resources for a bee, you have yourself a bee-friendly garden.

Tips for creating a bee-friendly garden

Plan to have flowering plants in your garden all year round, throughout every season.
Be diverse in colour, shape, and size of your flowers.
Plant fruit trees, especially citrus.
Keep in mind that cultivars are often sterile and do not produce pollen, and would therefore look beautiful but not be of any benefit to the bees.

A close up of a purple flower on a plant

Plant locally indigenous plants in your garden to attract solitary bees that naturally occur in your region.
Provide a water source in your garden, ensuring that there is a rock or stones in it for the bees to sit on.
Be diverse in the types of plants you select.
Allow some of your vegetables and herbs to flower. Fennel, rocket, pumpkins, cucumbers and carrots are favourites.

Avoid using harmful pesticides, herbicides and other chemicals in the garden.
Plant herbs! Herbs like sage, thyme and rosemary are some of the best food sources for bees.
Relax the weeding and allow weeds to flower. You can nip them before going to seed.
Build your own insect hotel using recycled wood and other organic materials to create a nesting and breeding site.