Trust supporter Sam Sergi got in touch after reading about the tough year for bumblebees. Sam has a love for bumblebees and has been involved in our Beewalk scheme collecting data, and her son helped create a wildflower corridor on a piece of disused land at his college. After relocating to Devon in 2023, Sam and her family got to work immediately in their new build to create a bumblebee haven. The results in one year are impressive!
It is hard to believe that our garden – a thriving bee and pollinator haven, buzzing with life is only just over a year old. We wanted to share what we have done to encourage bees into our new garden and the plants we have grown to sustain them whilst they visit us here.
We relocated to Devon in the summer of 2023, to a new build home which had freshly laid turf in the back and the developer’s selection of shrubs at the front. The garden had no immediate forage or habitat for bumblebees but we took advantage of the blank canvas which gave us the opportunity to start from scratch and create a garden that all pollinators would love.
We set to work almost immediately with the aim of creating a garden that would encourage as much wildlife into it as possible. We replaced basic lawn with multiple beds and planted Erysimum and Flowering Cherry for early bumblebee forage along with spring bulbs such as Winter Aconite, Snowdrops and Crocus. Allium bulbs were added and we continued with a wide range of plants, all selected for their bee friendly qualities. Vipers Bugloss, Scabious, Dahlia, Geranium, Verbena, Valerian, Lavender, Oregano, Verbascum, Sunflowers and Hollyhocks and many more.
We also planted a wildflower area on a bank at the side of our house and filled with Red Campion, Comfrey and Ragged Robin – along with bird feeders and wildlife water stations. It wasn’t long before our first early bumblebee visitors arrived.
Fast forward one year and our garden this summer has been buzzing for many months now.
Our plants have thrived, creating beds packed with forage and we have had many, many bumblebees in our garden with heavily laden pollen baskets. We have even had the privilege of seeing a few sheltering at night, tucked up in our Dahlia flowers.
Catmint, Vipers Bugloss and Erysimum Bowles Mauves have been champions for our bumblebee visitors, continually flowering for many months.
Creating this garden and seeing so many bumblebees visiting has given us great joy.
The season is coming to an end but Cosmos, Sunflowers, Verbena, Scabious, Dahlias and the outstanding Erysimum are still providing sustenance for our older bumblebees. We are already making plans to ensure they have everything they need for when spring comes and many start to visit us again.
You too can Bee the Change! Visit our resources for planting ideas.
