Bee pasture - make garden bee friendly

You would also like to save the bees and have a Bee pasture or a Create garden for bees? The urban green spaces are mostly made only visually chic, but take little consideration for the animal world. The result is that today we speak of the great bee die-off. All the more important that you offer the bees with your garden an ideal habitat. For this reason, in this article you will now learn how to make your garden bee-friendly.

Here is another short Table of contents for the article:

1. Reasons
2. Lawn
3. Plants
4. Nesting aid
5. Building material
6. Summary

Why create a bee pasture garden?

Those who call a garden their own can consider themselves lucky, because a garden opens up many opportunities to live sustainably - and quite directly, without plastic waste and environmental impact. Vegetables can be grown yourself, fruit can be cultivated and there are also Plant herbs. This saves a trip to the supermarket and avoids waste. A garden, no matter how small, can be a self-contained small system. Therefore, the own garden is particularly suitable for the preservation of bees.

The cycle of emergence and decay can literally be experienced first-hand in the garden. Climate change, insecticides, monotonous agricultural landscapes and the overbreeding of bees are the reasons why we are currently talking about the great bee die-off. And without the bees, we would also have big problems. In Germany alone, around 3,000 crops are threatened by bees. Pollination by the bees. Our food would become scarcer. One more reason to make your own garden bee-friendly and do something for the environment.

Flowering lawn in the garden for bees

A garden consists of different areas. You can grow crops there, plant colorful blooming flowers and also create a Create compost. You also do not have to do without a lawn in a garden for bees.

However, this looks a little different in a sustainable garden. Just like the native woody plants and perennials, it is a small biotope in its own right, providing a welcome island for bees and insects to rest and feed. You, too, can transform a garden space into a bee- and insect-friendly garden. The tips below show how to make your garden a favorite place for bees, insects and butterflies. By the way: Some tips are also suitable for balconies and terraces.

Making lawn a bee pasture

There are basically two ways to turn a spic-and-span lawn into a bee pasture and make it bee-friendly without much effort:

1. Do nothing - In principle, a commercial lawn mixture consists of a few selected herbs and grasses. Cutting suppresses the formation of inflorescences. If you stop cutting, the grasses will grow and develop their flowers. These may not be as visually attractive, but they are a food source for insects.
2. Sowing native herbs - If your lawn is mossy or doesn't produce any flowers worth mentioning, you can give nature a little help. Many native herbs, such as thyme, oregano or coriander, are suitable for this purpose. You can pick up the seeds along the way, for example, or pay a visit to the local flower shop. But you can also get the seeds online here for example*.

For a lawn to serve as a site for native herbs, the soil must be lean. Lean means that the proportion of sand is high, because sand does not retain nutrients. If you want to create a natural lawn from scratch, then you can create optimal starting conditions. In expert circles there is talk about lean lawn. But lean does not mean poverty, on the contrary. The diversity of species is the special characteristic of the meagre grass. It provides a habitat for meadow sage, orchid and purple salsify, among others. Along with the many new plant species, insects are also making their way in: sand bees, spider butterflies and oil beetles all feel at home in a rough grassland.

Lawn care in the garden friendly to bees

To maintain biodiversity in the long term, mowing the lawn is taboo. Nevertheless, you should not neglect maintenance and ensure that the beds and shrub plantings do not become weedy. Cordless lawn trimmers are well suited for this purpose. A handy lawn trimmer is perfect for small to medium-sized areas. First and foremost, you can use it to selectively trim the edges to prevent grasses from spreading into the beds. Second, a handy cordless lawn trimmer makes it easy to keep the growth under shrubs low, giving woody plants the air and light they need for healthy growth. Areas with diverse herbs and wild perennials are vital for the survival of bees, butterflies and insects.

The best plants for bees in the garden

Especially in the period from March to September, the bee-friendly garden must bloom properly. Only then can you call your garden bee pasture. Bees need a wide variety of flowers from native plant species. Basically, plants such as native flowering shrubs, cruciferous plants, wild perennials, flowering meadows and, of course, the classic kitchen herbs are recommended for bees. Which plants are particularly suitable for bees, I would now like to show you in more detail.

Flowering shrubs as a bee pasture

Essential players in the garden are the shrubs. In a bee and insect friendly garden, native flowering shrubs are essential. If you don't know which flowering shrub will fit the bill, a visit to your local nursery will help. The pros will know exactly what you're looking for when you ask for a bee-nurturing shrub. In professional circles, it's an established term. Here are a few of the most popular bee nurturing shrubs that you can place outdoors and some of them - at least temporarily - in a container on the balcony:

Name	Flower color	Flowering	Suitable for buckets
Garden marshmallow	White, Pink, Blue	June - September	Yes, grows to a maximum height of 2 m
Potato rose/rosehip	White, Pink	May - September	Conditional, becomes very shaggy
Mayflower bush	Pure white	May - June	Yes, maximum 1 m, cut tolerant

Mayflower bush, like the other two, is one of the real treats for bees. In addition, the Mayflower bush with its pure white flower panicles looks very attractive and is an ornament for balcony, terrace and of course the garden. So you make your garden more and more a bee pasture.

The practical thing about bee-friendly flowering shrubs is that they require little care. You plant them and rarely prune them. The advantage is that they can cope with different site conditions and are hardy. You should definitely check with the gardener if you are unsure about planting and care.

Perennials for bees: the rush of flowers in the flower bed

Last but not least, you can create a lot of space for bees, butterflies and insects in your garden or on your balcony with perennials. Perennials are small, easy to care for and they provide food for bees almost all year round. The perennial bed is something like the El Dorado for insects and butterflies, because there are hundreds of flowers and leaves, fruiting plants, herbs and roots in a very small space. At the renowned NABU is in the article "A garden for butterflies" to read which perennials are must-haves:

• Carthusian carnation
• Pigeon Kabiosis
• Spotted Johnswort
• Wild marjoram

Here are some more wild perennials that will help you make your garden bee-friendly: Sweetbrier, deadnettle, oxeye, black nettle or loosestrife. These plants are ideal for bees and therefore also for your bee pasture garden.

Sounds like a nice, colorful mess on the terrace, balcony and in the garden! Actually, it is then almost too bad to use the wonderful garden to the Vacation to leave, because when the small ecosystem is balanced, healthy green and blooming, the sight of it is the best rest.

Garden bee friendly with native herbs

In the article Planting plants & herbs yourself I have already shown you valuable plants for your health. But especially the herbs native to us are not only good for you, but also for the bees. Therefore, you should also like to plant herbs in your garden to make your garden bee-friendly. The following herbs are an excellent food source for bees and should not be missing in your bee pasture garden:

• Oregano
• Lavender
• Dill
• Thyme
• Coriander
• Sage
• Lemon balm
• Rosemary
• Mint
• Marjoram
• …

These are far from all the herbs for bees that you can plant in your garden. All these plants have natural flowers that serve as a food source for bees. So if you want to attract bees and provide them with a food source, you should not harvest the herbs directly, but let them bloom for a while.

Nesting help for bees in the garden

What does the ideal nesting aid for bees look like? To answer this question, we must first clarify where bees feel particularly comfortable and like to nest. Ideal conditions for the bees nesting place we create by having the following things in our garden:

• Rotten wood
• Sandy, open ground areas
• Dry stone walls and steep walls
• Empty snail shells
• Rocks & Pebbles
• Warm hollow
• Dead trees
• Pithy stems (e.g. mullein)

Basically, insects like bees prefer dry and sunny places in the garden for their nesting site. By creating these conditions, you provide the bees with an ideal habitat in your bee pasture garden.

What building material bees use for their nest

Different bee species also use different material for their nests. Basically, however, the following building material is ideal for bees:

• Small stones
• Clay
• Sand
• Earth
• Resin
• Plant parts
• Small wood chips (wood)

The classic honey bee and also the bumblebee build their nests from wax that they squeeze out of their wax glands on the abdomen. Bees such as the woolly bee, the mason bee or the leafcutter bee particularly like to use clay, sand, soil, plant parts such as leaves and also sticks as building material for their nests. Wood particles and the pith of plant stems are preferred as building material, especially by club-horned bees and wood bees.

Bee pasture garden? That's easy!

You've learned today how to make your garden bee-friendly and provide an ideal base for bees to reproduce. From the reasons for a bee-friendly garden, to the optimal lawn and ideal plants for bees, to nesting aids and necessary building materials. I hope you can use the tips to make your garden bee-friendly. Do you have any questions, tips or suggestions? Then feel free to write me a comment below this article.

Best regards,

PS: Now you know how to make your garden bee friendly 🙂 In the Environmental protection blog of CareElite you will find many more tips and ideas with which you can do something good for the environment.