Pollinators and Wildflowers
Plant a Pollinator Garden
Help the bees and butterflies out by planting native plants around your home. Native plants help provide species like insects and birds with food, shelter and proper habitat to thrive.
How to Plant a Pollinator Garden!
Why not take part in No Mow May?
The reason for thinking twice about our regular mowing habits comes down to stark facts.
According to a report in the journal Biological Conservation, 97 per cent of British wildflower meadows have disappeared since the 1930s. A recent study published in the journal Nature Communications shows that many British pollinating insects are in decline, with rarer species, such as the red-shanked carder bee, really struggling. Between 1980 and 2013, every square kilometre in the UK lost an average of 11 species of bee and hoverfly. The reasons behind this are the use of insecticides, habitat loss and an overall reduction in biodiversity. Our gardens can play a vital part in reversing this trend.
More mowing tips for encouraging wildlife (source: Gardens Illustrated website)
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Cut once every four weeks - The 2019 No Mow May experiment revealed the highest number of flowers on lawns mown in this way. Ideally, leave around three to five centimetres of grass length.
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Leave areas of long grass - The experiment also resulted in greater diversity of flowers in areas of grass that were left completely unmown, with oxeye daisy, field scabious and knapweed offering up important nectar sources.
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You don’t have to stop mowing completely Some species, such as daisy and bird’s foot trefoil, are adapted to growing in shorter swards. Cutting flowers from these plants once a month stimulates them to produce more blooms.
How to take part in No Mow May
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Register for Every Flower Counts at www.plantlife.org.uk
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Leave your mower in the shed from 23 to 31 May and again from 11 to 19 July.
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At the end of each period, throw a tennis ball into a patch of your lawn, mark out a square metre with sticks around the ball and count and identify the flowers in that square and then upload your findings.
Bee Swarm Collection
Mid Bucks Beekeepers Association have a free swarm collection service in this area.
Honey bees have been under considerable stress in recent years and unpredictable weather patterns have increased difficulties for this important pollinator.
Studies have shown that a swarm collected and house by a beekeeper has a four times greater chance of survival that one left to its own devices.
Please us the Swarm Hotline 07770 370132 if you discover a swarm. Before calling the number please first go to the BBKA website to confirm that you have actually discovered a swarm of honeybees. Last year of 80% of the calls we received were for Bumble Bees which we cannot help you with.