The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) and The Wildlife
Trusts have joined forces to urge gardeners to do more to help protect bumblebees and
solitary bees, heroes of the pollinator world.
The Bee Creative in the Garden! call comes as bees are under
increasing pressure largely due to loss of habitat. In the countryside, 97% of lowland meadow has already been lost and the dramatic decrease in suitable
habitats isn't just confined to rural areas. The network of 15 million gardens that once
formed 'green corridors' for wildlife is also disappearing at an alarming rate.
In response here in the south west Devon Wildlife Trust will
be arming gardeners with the advice, insights and inspiration they need to
create habitats that support wild bees as they emerge from their nests in early spring to
forage for food.
Gardeners will be able to download a wild bee-friendly
gardening guide. Wildlife events and a 'Bee Creative' photo competition will also be
taking place from 1 April to 1 November 2017 as bees buzz during the gardener's
growing season and then look for nesting sites in autumn.
As part of Bee Creative in the Garden! Devon Wildlife Trust
is also hosting two events at their headquarters, Cricklepit Mill, in Exeter.
The mill has its own pollinator-friendly garden and on Sunday 25 June, the
charity will be inviting the public to spend the day exploring this urban oasis in the
heart of the city.
Staff and volunteers will be on hand to give wildlife
gardening advice and offer tours of the award-winning garden. Families can also follow
the exciting nature trails and see what wildlife is in the garden by taking part
in some bug hunting! Visitors will have the opportunity to put theory into
practice and buy wildlife plants at the event to take home.
At the start of the summer holidays, on Thursday 3 August,
families are invited to visit Cricklepit Mill for Devon Wildlife Trust's wild bee
family fun day! Children can get arty in the garden with a range of wildlife crafts
and explore the garden with nature trails, bug hunting and bee-themed games.
Bee Creative in the Garden! is the theme for this year's
Wild About Gardens campaign - an annual joint initiative between The Wildlife Trusts and
the RHS which aims to encourage gardeners to create wildlife havens for the many,
once-common, native species.
Helen Bostock, Senior Horticultural Advisor at the RHS said:
"A healthy garden is buzzing with bees and other
pollinators. By providing nesting sites and growing nectar and pollen rich flowers gardeners
can and do support a wide variety of bumblebee and solitary bees."
Rosie Workman, Communications Assistant at Devon Wildlife
Trust, said:
"We want to encourage people in Devon to take action
and help our wild bees. Whether you've got a window box, a wall or a back garden, it's easy
to create a bee haven and fun choosing bee-friendly beauties to plant."
The wild bee-friendly gardening guide, 'Get your garden
buzzing for bees', is free to download and contains lots of facts about the different
species of wild bee, their lifecycles and how they nest, as well as practical
steps gardeners can take to help them.
It is
available to download at
wildaboutgardensweek.org.uk
Enter the Bee Creative photo competition! Gardeners,
gardening groups and schools are encouraged to share how they've welcomed wild bees into
their gardens by posting a picture on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram - using the
hashtag #wildaboutgardens and the category being entered - of their bee-friendly area,
whether that be a tailor-made bee home, a flower-packed border or a wall that
bees have made their
own.
A list of the wildlife gardening events taking place can be
found at
The Bee Creative in the Garden! campaign will culminate in
Wild About Gardens Week which will run from 23rd-29th October. This will be a
fun-filled week of special activities focused on how to help bees survive the winter
ahead.
Buff-tailed bumblebee - Photo copyright Jon Hawkins, Surrey Hills
Photography (All rights reserved)
ABOUT WILD ABOUT GARDENS The Wildlife Trusts and the RHS set up Wild About Gardens www.wildaboutgardens.org.uk in 2009 and Wild About Gardens Week in 2013. It is an annual celebration of
wildlife gardening and provides a focus to encourage people to use their gardens
and take action to help support wildlife. Over the past 50 years we've seen declines
in two thirds of the UK's plant and animal species, for a range of reasons,
including loss of habitat. Many of our common garden species - hedgehogs, house
sparrows, starlings and common frogs, for example - are increasingly endangered. Gardens
have enormous potential to act as mini-nature reserves. There are 15 million gardens in
the UK, estimated to cover about 270,000 hectares - more than the area of all the
National Nature Reserves in the UK.
