Gardening for bumblebees
Whether you have a window box, allotment or large garden, planting bee-friendly flowers can help boost your local bumblebee population. In return, they pollinate our flowers, crops, fruits and vegetables.
No matter what size garden you have, you can do your bit for bumblebees by planting at least two kinds of bee-friendly flower for every flowering period (spring, summer, autumn and winter).
The best habitats for bumblebees are those that offer plenty of flowers to feed on during the entire active phase of the bumblebees’ lifecycle (from March until October). This will ensure that there is a good supply of pollen at all of the crucial times, including when queens are nesting, when the nest is growing and when new queens are fattening up ready for hibernation!
Gardening is for everyone, so get the children involved, your friends and local community and start growing a haven for bumblebees!
Why not 'pledge' to make a difference? Check out our FREE Bee the Change resources for lots of planting ideas to suit every growing space, plus information about how to provide bumblebee nest sites. Or take the Gardening for Nature Recovery 'pledge' featuring 11 simple ways you can support a wider range of wildlife (in collaboration with 'We have the POWER').
Considerations when creating a bee-friendly garden 🐝
There a a few things to consider when designing your bee-friendly garden that you may wish to include, not only to encourage the humble bumble, but other species such as solitary bees:
- Is the type of space you already have sunny or shady, small or big? This will help you plan your seasonal planting.
- Grow plants with nectar and pollen. Obvious we know, but it's important to grow a range of plants especially March to October for bumblebees.
- Provide potential nest sites for bumblebee queens emerging from hibernation in spring - discover three simple ways to do this in our Bee the Change guide!
- Build a bee hotel to encourage those solitary bees to help boost diversity in your garden. Top tip: position in a south to southeast location
- Embrace the 'weeds'! We don't like to call them weeds, so let your lawn grow and discover the range that pop up to feed the bumblebees in your lawn.
Trees
Trees and hedging plants in flower can be a good food source for bumblebees. Hedges can also provide potential nesting sites.
Try apple, cherry, willow, plum, pear and blackthorn.
For more information about finding the right fruit tree for your space, big or small, take a look at our 'Grow your own fruit and vegetables' guide.
Lawns
Yes! Even your humble lawn can provide food for bumblebees if you allow species often seen as ‘weeds’ to flower.
Watch our short video on letting your lawn grow.
Bees love clover, dandelion, bird's foot trefoil and vetch. Traditional Victorian thyme lawns can provide a low-maintenance bee-friendly alternative.
Ponds
If you have a pond, you can grow water mint, purple loosestrife, forget-me-not, iris and meadowsweet around the outside of the pond to attract bumblebees.
One of the best bumblebee plants, purple loosestrife, thrives in boggy soil around the pond (or why not make a bog garden?).
For pond plant inspiration read this pond blog.
Wildflower meadows
If you’ve got enough space in your garden, or have access to an area within your local community, why not create a wildflower meadow to provide bumblebees with food and shelter throughout their active season? View our guide on how to create or restore a meadow. Or read our Making greenspace for bumblebees toolkit for more ideas on making a bumblebee and people friendly garden!
Community planting
Bringing communities together not only supports your local area, but supports people too, so let's get planting!
We have a fabulous community planting guide to help you swap bedding plants like begonias and busy lizzies (which offer bumblebees very little or no food) for bumblebee-friendly options, so your local area can look as beautiful for the same effort!
Bee kind tool
Are you just getting started? Help is on hand. Try our Bee kind tool to see how your garden scores and to receive planting recommendations to improve your area. It's simple! Sign up today and as a returning visitor, you can access your plant recommendations. Or simply browse over 700 plants to fill your space.
Alternatively, take a look at our Gardening for bumblebees leaflet. You can download it too!
Creating space on a larger scale?
On a larger scale, why not speak to your local council or authority regarding the mowing of parks and road verges? You could instead create and manage a wildflower meadow for people and wildlife to enjoy. Our Local Authorities pack provides guidance on how to go about contacting your local council to do more to help bumblebees.
Schools are great places for wildlife gardens and wildflower meadows. They offer so many opportunities for learning new skills, getting in touch with nature and making friends and we have the perfect pack aimed at primary school level to get you started.
Kew gardens run a project called Grow Wild which can offer funding and free seeds for community groups looking to transform local spaces in to bee-friendly havens.
A quick planting guide for a shady or sunny spot
Even damp, shady areas can provide flowers to feed the bees! Below are suggestions for plants you could try in shady spots and at which times of year they flower.
Spring
Comfrey
Winter heather
Hellebore
Lungwort
Summer
Wild strawberry
Aquilegia
Monkshood
Borage
Autumn
Catmint
Mahonia
Ground ivy
As we all know, many plants love to grow in warm, sunny spots and can provide plenty of food for bumblebees all year round! See our suggestions below for what you can grow in sunny places:
Spring
Crocus
Pieris
California lilac
Dicentra
Summer
Viper's bugloss
Foxglove
Lavender
Geraniums
Autumn
Verbena
Cosmos
Sunflower
Honeysuckle
What to avoid
Some species have a habit of escaping from gardens and invading wild habitats nearby, for example, Rhododendron ponticum and Himalayan balsam. These are probably best avoided. Our conservation partners Plantlife offer useful guidance.
Certain plants have flower shapes that bumblebees cannot use. For example, some flowers have petals that form long tunnels which are too long or narrow for the bees to feed from. Similarly, flowers with multiple tightly packed heads offer bees very little accessible food.
Other flowers may not be suitable because they produce little or no pollen and nectar, often as a result of selective breeding by horticulturalists for their pleasing appearance. Plants like pansies and double begonias offer little for bumblebees and other pollinators. Our 'Community Planting Guide' makes it easy for you to swap sterile bedding plants for bumblebee-friendly alternatives!
You should avoid using any pesticides in your garden, including bug sprays and weedkillers. Pesticides can harm bumblebees in a number of ways, including killing them directly (even if they are not the intended target), affecting their ability to find flowers and reproduce, and destroying the wildflowers they rely on for food. Download our guide to going pesticide-free in your garden to discover how you can make the switch to gardening organically, in balance with nature, and create a healthier and safer space for bumblebees.
Sourcing plants and seeds
Bee-friendly gardening can be enjoyed on any budget. Here are a few ideas:
Garden centres and nurseries: Plants will typically be large and established, but more expensive. They are usually on display for sale when they are flowering, which means that you let the bees choose for you – just put plants in your trolley that have lots of bumblebees feeding on them!
Mail-order plug plants: A growing number of online shops sell trays of plug plants, including both garden favourites and wildflowers. The plants are well established with a good root system, but small. You will often need to wait a year until they flower, but this is a cost-effective option.
Seed packets: Available as part of your Bumblebee Conservation Trust membership pack, in garden centres, through catalogues and online. Only ‘annuals’ will flower in their first year. Very cost-effective.
Propagation: Many bee-friendly plants can be split at the roots or take well from cuttings. Why not make friends with other local bee-friendly gardeners through a gardening club or community group?
Wild seed collection: There are lots of native bee-friendly plants that look great in a border. Local wild plants will be well adapted to your soil type and climate plus will often be resistant to pests. You should never dig up the plants themselves, but if you mark their location you can return later in the year and collect some seeds. Try publicly accessible areas such as road verges or riverbanks and avoid private land. Never collect seed from rare plants or from places where the species is scarce.
Helping bees in gardens is something everyone can do. We hope that this page has inspired you to make a few planting choices that can transform an outdoor space into a bumblebee oasis!