Turn your own garden into a delightful haven

THE clocks have gone forward and the garden is bursting into life. But if you haven’t yet heard the familiar buzz of a bee around the blossoms, you’re not alone. Irish bee numbers are in steep decline. We have 99 species of bee but one-third of these are threatened with extinction from the island of Ireland. The latest data shows there’s been a 14% decline in the common bumblebee since 2012, which experts say is as a huge issue. The way we are currently managing the landscape means there just isn’t enough food for them. Bees are vital for growing fruits and vegetables and provide a free pollinating service to farmers which saves the economy an estimated €53m a year, so their disappearance would be catastrophic. But there are lots of simple things you can do to preserve bees in Ireland. CLAIRE SCOTT presents the ultimate guide to saving the wild Irish Bee... Gardeners can play a vital role in saving bees by planting the types of flowers, grasses and herbs the little creatures love. According to Dr Una Fitzpatrick, senior ecologist at the National Biodiversity Data Centre, the main reason for the depletion in bee numbers is hunger. ‘Bees feed exclusively on plants and there’s just not enough food for them in the landscape, partly because we’re obsessed with tidying things up both on our farms but also in parks and in our gardens.

People don’t let dandelions grow any more. The loss of wildflowers across the landscape is the main driver.’ When choosing what to plant in your garden, remember that bees need flowers rich in nectar and pollen, which provides them with protein and oils.

As bee tongues vary in size, it’s best to opt for flat and open flowers, which are easily accessible to all of them. ‘Double’ flowers that have extra petals such as roses, red hot pokers and petunias are harder work for them.

Try to provide a range of plants so that at any time of the year something in the garden is flowering – it’ll help keep bees going throughout the seasons. And don’t mow your lawn too much – letting it grow slightly longer allows small flowers and weeds to appear, which will attract the insects.

If you can, leave a wild patch of long grass in the garden for wildflowers to grow. According to Dr Fitzpatrick, typical flowers like busy Lizzy, begonia, primula, tulips and daffodils aren’t very good for bees but there are plenty of beautiful plants you can choose that are pollinator-friendly. Even if you don’t have much – or any – outdoor space, you can still help. Below are listed some of the plants that are perfect for pollinators...

SPRING

LUNGWORT (pictured) – with its pretty pink or blue flowers, this small plant is great for shady, moist spots. WALLFLOWER – easy to grow, dazzlingly colourful and richly fragrant small flowers on tall stems. HEBE – a bush with tiny, denselypacked blooms on short spikes. APPLE – one of the easiest fruit trees to grow: plant in a sunny, sheltered spot.

SUMMER

FOXGLOVE – with tall spikes and bellshaped blooms, great for bumblebees. ACHILLEA (pictured) – also known as yarrow, it comes in many colours and has a wide head full of tiny flowers. SWEET PEA – incredibly popular because of its lovely smell and beautiful flowers. RUNNER BEANS – a staple for a sunny part of the garden.

AUTUMN

MichaelMas DAISY – elegant, slim petals in blues, purples and pinks. JAPANESE ANEMONE – a prominent yellow centre surrounded by delicate petals in whites, pinks and reds. DAHLIA (pictured) – a large bulb head packed full of petals. COMMON IVY – the ivy bee, common in Britain but not yet spotted here, was named after this fantastic creeper.

WINTER

MAHONIA (pictured) – a tall shrub with hundreds of tiny yellow flowers on long spikes. Smells like lily of the valley. HELLEBORE – beautiful rose-like flowers in myriad different colours, perfect for planting in shady spots. CROCUS – this staple provides a riot of mainly purples, yellows and whites. SWEET BOX – highly-scented, tough plants with wispy white flowers.