A garden close to people and nature
You can have a meticulously maintained lawn or, instead, a small meadow mown twice a year.
The children will appreciate the flowers for their games, and the insects will find much-needed food.
Creating or adapting a garden to be a feast for bumblebees is not complicated at all. And it doesn't matter at all whether your garden is as large as a football pitch or as small as your palm.
What bumblebees need from your garden are flowers. Nectar-rich and pollen-rich flowers, whether from trees, shrubs, or herbs. Therefore, it is very important that there is always something in bloom in the garden, from spring to autumn.
On the other hand, this does not mean that you have to give up all your lawn in favour of bumblebees. Just make sure there's somewhere for the children to play, and somewhere for you to dry your laundry...
And it's not about having to transform your beautiful and serene oasis of calm into some overgrown jungle either.
Sometimes, all it takes are small changes in garden care. For example, you don't need to mow lawns every week or two. In a less frequented part of the garden, you could wait three weeks to mow, allowing daisies, clover, selfheal, and bird's-foot trefoil to bloom in the lawn, and suddenly you'll see how a sterile, lifeless green space transforms into a small, colourful insect paradise.
It's worth considering whether you really need to buy a juniper and a thuja for the garden, or if boxwood and cherry laurel might be better alternatives.
The correct planting of plants is the first step towards creating a true bumblebee pasture, and although it may seem complicated to some at first, in the end, a garden planted correctly in this way will be a pleasure not only for bumblebees but, thanks to its year-round variety, for us too.
What bumblebees and not only them need, and what a nature- and owner-friendly garden should have?
- Sufficient blooms from spring to autumn
- A body of water with chemically untreated water and shallow banks
- A patch or part of a garden that is not intensively managed
Flowers – a food source for insects
Not everything that blooms can be utilised by insects. Therefore, garden owners should consider planting species and cultivars whose flowers provide enough pollen and nectar. These don't have to be only ornamental plants, but also the flowers of trees, shrubs, or small fruits and vegetables. It is very important that something is always blooming in the garden, from spring to autumn. The more diverse the range of species, the better. The composition and placement of pollen and nectar in flowers vary, so a diverse garden becomes a valuable food source, which is becoming scarcer in landscapes dominated by monocultures or gardens following fashion trends.
Would you like something special? Plant a native species, you'll be surprised how few there are in gardens, how hard it is to find such a purely indigenous species, and how much not only insects but also birds will appreciate it.
Does it make sense to pride oneself on and cherish a „rare“ and often much more demanding cultivar, a catalogue „novelty“ available in every garden centre? To buy insect hotels for the garden and feed birds artificially, while having almost nothing that provides them with natural shelter and food, of which we have deprived them by reshaping our gardens? Isn't that a bit „backwards“?
On the other hand, this doesn't mean you have to give up your entire lawn, at the expense of bumblebees. Just let the children have somewhere to play, and you have somewhere to dry your laundry...
And it's not about having to transform your beautiful and serene oasis of calm into some overgrown jungle either.
Sometimes, all it takes are small changes in garden care. For example, you don't need to mow lawns every week or two. In a less frequented part of the garden, you could wait three weeks to mow, allowing daisies, clover, selfheal, and bird's-foot trefoil to bloom in the lawn, and suddenly you'll see how a sterile, lifeless green space transforms into a small, colourful insect paradise.
It's worth considering whether you really need to buy a juniper or thuja for your garden, as everyone has them and advertising for them is everywhere. Couldn't it rather be a deciduous shrub that rewards you with variety throughout the year and offers disappearing food sources for insects and birds?.
Did you know?
Popular trees like thuja or goldenrod, for example, are of no use to either birds or insects (goldenrod flowers are sterile). On the other hand, such an „ordinary“ elder tree, not only requires almost no maintenance but also provides food for up to 62 species of birds, its flower heads can be used in the kitchen, and children enthusiastically prepare elderflower cordial. It tolerates pruning. We don't need stories from old Native Americans; our ancestors already had a saying: „Take off your hat for chamomile, fall to your knees for elder.“
The insect hit parade is then won by the pussy willow, to which up to 213 insect species are attached.
The correct planting of plants is the first step towards creating a true bumblebee pasture, and although it may seem complicated to some at first, in the end, a garden planted correctly in this way will be a pleasure not only for bumblebees but, thanks to its year-round variety, for us too.
We'll gradually try to offer you a selection of ways to adjust the representation of flowers in the garden. We're not aiming to be a gardening website, but we'd be happy to showcase our favourites, and by extension, those of insects and bumblebees.
In the background, a lawn mown for intensive use, with a meadow corner left around the water inlet.
For some, weeds; for insects, a paradise; and for us, a different perspective.
Instead of forsythia, you can plant dogwoods. They flower even earlier, not as densely, but they are the first insect pasture, and in autumn they will reward you with edible fruits with an original flavour.
Water in the garden
Drowning is the second most common cause of death for children in industrialised countries, including the Czech Republic.
The placement of various floats in swimming pools or containers with vertical and smooth walls is only of partial help to birds and insects.
Surface water is essential for insects, birds, and other wildlife. Natural sources are diminishing, so garden owners can help a lot here too. You don't necessarily need a natural swimming pond in your garden. Even a miniature water feature or a wetland with shallow banks of sand or pebbles can help; all that's really needed is to ensure that the water doesn't dry up completely during the year. Creating such a source of life is much easier than you think and much more significant than you might have imagined. You'll be surprised by who you'll find around such a natural body of water.
Shallow banks of the pond, from which animals can drink safely. Size doesn't matter. As you can see, the toad also found the pond useful.
A natural shallow body of water is also important in winter. You're not just helping insects, but also birds and your soul…
(view from the window)
To have, somewhere to have one's corner...
Was Favourite song The Jitka Zelenka of our youth. How much our garden creatures are missing it. They find shelter, rest and, for many species, even a home in it. It's not just about bumblebees by a long shot.
You can easily create such a place. It could be part of a hedgerow where you choose native shrubs that you don't prune or spray. Part of a compost heap that you save from turning. A spot with old deadwood. An unfertilised bed planted with wild „weeds“ or a meadow mix mown twice a year. A native pioneer shrub whose immediate surroundings you let grow wild instead of weeding.
These spots don't need to be large and can be placed around the garden in different locations. With their help, you can also create various visual screens and nooks that will become the target of children's expeditions, as nowhere else will be as lively.
A touch of the wild – an untrimmed hedgerow of raspberry canes, apple trees, and elder in the distance.
Old wood doesn't have to be ugly at all – a quince bush planted near a tree stump.
In conclusion
We are aware that bumblebee breeding is a beautiful hobby, but it is the icing on the cake. Without landscape modification, a change in people's thinking about garden use, our breeding cannot save them, even if it were the best.
And so this chapter has its prominent place on our pages.
We hope that you will be inspired. Even if you decide on a tiny change, it will still be a change 🙂 and without it, nothing will change...
The Bobbie James rose can be used to beautify old trees or, for example, a north-facing wall. You will provide birds with a nesting place and insects with food, and yourself with a stunning view.
Changing a preconceived notion isn't always easy. 🙂
Photography Karel Kučera