How to get more bees to your tiny garden with enormous benefits

Pollination by flowers is essential for bee populations, therefore even a little garden may make a difference. When space is at a premium, grow as many blooming plants as possible in a tiny container.

Honey bees are kept by beekeepers in suburban landscapes across the world, in environments that are heavily populated by concrete, asphalt, and chemically treated grass. I looked over the rail and saw shiny automobile roofs, a man wielding a leaf re-positioner that was so loud it was audible, and a maintenance worker spraying thick-leaved vegetation. Because honey bees travel such great distances, I could accept the odd visit from an interested guest. Whereas the others... I was reminded of the fact that nature has a knack for finding solutions by itself.

Private gardens in a chaotic and congested world

A little tree in a huge porcelain urn and six pots of mixed herbs—oregano, basil, peppermint, and chives—were among the plants that my friend cultivated beside containers of Texas bluebells, columbine, shooting stars, and wild geranium. Just enough space for a small glass-topped table, two chairs, and a stray cat was left on the sunny side of the little deck beside the plants. Despite its modest size and shape, the garden had an invigorating aroma of mint.

Ever since that day, I've been wondering what kind of impact even modest gardens may have on pollinators. Mini gardens aren't only for people; they serve as rest stops for animals and a temporary refuge for pollinators from the hustle and bustle of city life. They offer a tranquil retreat for enjoying a delightful meal, a cool drink, and some safe playtime, much like picnic sites.

Is a little garden okay for honey bees to use?

Many beekeepers are against the concept of keeping honey bees in little gardens. Why? Devotion to flowers. Planting a small garden specifically for honey bees doesn't appear to make much sense because these pollinators prefer crops with plenty of similar blossoms. One-size-fits-all solutions cannot satisfy everyone.

However, reconsider. Foragers gather food, while scouts look for new areas to settle, making up the avian army of each colony. Recent studies have shown the astonishing possibility that scouts make up as much as 25% of foragers in a single colony, depending on the season.1 The scouts' mission is to locate the vast areas of sourwood, clover, or fireweed that provide food for the colony. However, the scouts log a lot of flying hours in order to locate those riches. Rest, refuelling, and rehydration are necessary at regular intervals.

A little flower garden can provide a scout with much-needed rest before her next mission to find shelter, food, water, resins, or pollen. A little garden can serve as a rest stop for honey bees, much like a truck driver on an unending highway.

As an alternative to large spaces

Many different kinds of small-space gardening are available. You can pick a popular design or combine elements from several ones; it all depends on your arrangement. A selection of intriguing styles is shown here.

Climbing plants

Exciting possibilities arise with vertical gardens, sometimes known as green walls. Gardening vertically, rather than horizontally, makes them ideal for cramped quarters. From simple planters made of plastic or metal to elaborate structures that hold soil in place, vertical gardens are a great way to grow plants. No matter how little your deck is, you may still display attractive plants, herbs, flowers, and veggies.

Some people just stand up wooden pallets, fasten them to a solid surface, and then stuff plastic bags or bendy pots into the crevices between the slats. Intricate hydroponic pools connected by pipes and suspended from hooks are constructed by other gardeners. The use of netting to support viney creepers in pots is something I've even seen.

The benefits of easily accessible vertical gardens are numerous. Both weeding and watering are made easier. When compared to gardens that are lower to the ground, even harvesting and deadheading take far less work. Furthermore, you will have an excellent vantage point to observe pollinators.

The plants are so replaceable that you can easily switch out flowering ones with ones that have already faded. That way, you and the bees and butterflies may enjoy this season to the most. You can also choose to focus on a certain theme, like blue flowers, aromatic herbs, moon gardens, or pollen-laden blossoms.

If you want your plants to thrive, it's important to think about how much sunshine they'll get, how you'll water them, and where the water will go (particularly on a balcony). Pick easy-to-care-for plants that are also beloved by pollinators like bees.

When you're short on space, consider growing plants on a fence instead of in pots.

Miniature gardens

Pocket gardens are a great alternative to traditional gardens since they may fit in awkward spaces and are sometimes specialised for vegetable or pollinator crops. Similar to the one in Issaquah, they often include containers or raised beds set out on a balcony or porch, but they can also encircle low stone walls, stairs, or outdoor furniture.

Instead of constructing something brand new, I've witnessed fire pits, koi ponds, and sunken pools turned into beautiful bee-friendly planters below ground. A pocket garden may be made out of almost any outdoor building. When room is at a premium, even a little planting along a picket fence may be quite attractive.

Gardens on wheels

The name "gardens on wheels" says it all: these gardens are made to be moved about. Some people even plant them in wheelbarrows, carts, trailers, or waggons and then relocate them when the seasons change and the sun's rays and shadow patterns shift.

The broader definition of "gardens on wheels" might include container gardens that are easily transportable from one season to another, or even within a year. Either put the plants in pots inside the rolling containers or bury them directly in the containers themselves.

Due to their portability, these gardens provide limitless customisation options. When the weather becomes bad or the seasons change, you may move the planter indoors or rearrange it. With their help, gardeners may direct sunlight to plants in the best possible way, shield them from dangerously hot or cold spells, or make elegant modifications for special events. Since the planters can be moved between flowering times, they are ideal for pollinators.

Eco-friendly gardens made from strawbales

Instead of planting in dirt, you may use straw bales to create a garden. A few months of "curing" (adding water) after bringing in rectangle bales is all that's needed before planting. The amount of direct sunshine required by the bales each day ranges from six to eight hours, depending on the plants you want.

Pick out bales that haven't been treated with any herbicides or pesticides. Even if weed seeds aren't abundant in most bales, it's still best to use straw from wheat, barley, or oats instead of hay.

The bales decompose after a year or two, making straw bale gardens ideal for annuals. However, in those years, the bales can yield a bountiful harvest for both you and the bees. Aside from sunflowers and zinnias, my bales also yielded potatoes, tomatoes, squash, and bush beans.

Transporting the bales is the most challenging aspect of growing a straw bale garden. Bale size is dependent on harvesting and tying machinery, but typically a rectangular bale is 32-44 inches in length, 16-22 inches in width, and 14-16 inches in height. Get someone to help you lift them because they are rather hefty.

Many advantages may be gained from straw bale gardens:

Digging is not necessary.
No stooping down is required to tend to weeds or observe pollinators.
Areas covered with asphalt, clay, or concrete can nevertheless be gardened in.
Inherently, your drainage is top-notch.
Put them in areas with optimal sun and shade.
Year after year, you can move the garden to a new spot.
You won't have to deal with nearly as many bugs (slugs hate it when people itch their tummies) and you won't have to keep it up for eternity or remove it. The bales will decompose naturally if you refrain from replacing them.

The steel-gray pollen of breadseed poppies is a favourite of many pollinators, particularly honey bees. They are easy to cultivate and require very little space.

Improvements to pollinators' quality of life

Flowers of various forms and colours that are rich in nectar and pollen are essential for pollinators, as is well known. A few extras, though, can make your bee guests deliriously pleased. Any bee habitat can benefit from these additional features.

All bees want water, so it's a good idea to provide a steady supply. You may use a birdbath filled with rocks or marbles, a bucket with some floating branches or corks, or even irrigation heads that drip slowly all day. The lamb's ear is a favourite among honey bees in my pollinator garden. My honey bees don't seem to care about the blossoms, but they go crazy for the fluffy leaves that soak up the early dew and keep it for hours.

Habitat diversity: By using a range of pots and heights, even in a compact garden, you may create a variety of habitats. You may create many levels and microhabitats by providing a little blooming shrub or tree, a variety of herbs, and some colourful flowers. Many kinds of pollinators visit each of them.

Find the shortfall: Gardening with late-summer and fall-blooming plants will be most beneficial to bees. With a plenty of nectar and pollen in the spring, your bees will have no trouble finding food in the summer, when even the most exhausted scouts will have a hard time finding decent blossoms.

Bees require both sunny days and shady areas to thrive. They like the sun's warmth, but they, too, must limit their exposure to it. Give them a taste of both and make their choice.

Give bees a place to hide from the elements: Bees require protection from wind, rain, and predators. When there are many of plants around, bees will seek shelter behind leaves or along stems. Like people waiting at a bus stop, I've witnessed bumble bees huddling within a foxglove flower during heavy rains, hoping the clouds will eventually pass.

Exclusion of pesticides: No pesticide should be used in a small-space pollinator garden. In just a few short minutes, you can unslug, debug, and weed by hand.

Sites for nesting: Incorporating a little solitary bee nesting block, butterfly house, or hummingbird feeder with bee guards into your tiny garden can attract more than just honey bees. Little bees will make nests out of the straws if you use them to make a straw bale. The sight of little bees swarming into my straw bales, each one carrying its own unique pollen, captivated me. Occasionally, they would take a seat within the straws, resting their heads as I gazed at them.
You don't have need a large area of exposed dirt, but lonely bees may be looking for a spot to borrow soil from, construct a nest, or even just gather mud to use as mortar. The holes I make to plant shrubs are soon occupied by mason bees, who use their mandibles to remove the soil. Their echoes, like bees in a gallon bottle, sometimes reach my ears from down in the holes.
When your little garden begins to sprout, be careful not to disturb the soil too much. Clay flower pots are a favourite habitat for solitary bees, so it's not uncommon to observe them foraging in the dirt from a hidden spot behind the plants. The next year, bees will emerge from their containers if you do not disturb the soil.

Watch and get knowledge: In order to improve your planting strategies in the future, make a note of which plants attract bees and which ones they neglect. You can't always tell what will and will not thrive in a garden since every garden is unique.

Bees adore forget-me-nots, which are ideal for little gardens. These beautiful blue blossoms are a common site for solitary bees to mate.

The best plants to grow as pollinators

Assuming the plant is temperature and container-size-appropriate, the sky's the limit when it comes to what you can grow in your little garden. Here are a few things to consider as a starting point, though.

Lavender (Lavandula spp.): Bees love lavender because of its fragrant blossoms, which are rich in nectar, and because it blooms for a long time.

Sunflowers (Helianthus spp.: If you're lucky enough to have a stable planter and some open space, sunflowers will attract a diverse array of bee species with their plentiful pollen and nectar. The nectar and pollen are easily accessible through their open flower heads. Birds swoon over the seeds as the season progresses.

Minty tubular blossoms of bee balm (Monarda spp.)brim with rich nectar and entice long-tongued pollinators like bumble bees and hummingbirds.

Cosmos, or Cosmos bipinnatus, are classic houseplants, particularly when grown in isolation. The reason leafcutter bees arrive and leave a ragged mess instead of beautiful discs from the petals is why I appreciate them. Yeah, that's right. I let the bees eat them once I plant them.

The salvia plant is a favourite of bees due to its abundant nectar and distinctive tubular blossoms. Salvia guaranitica 'Black & Blue' is my favourite variety.

Echinacea purpurea, more often known as the purple coneflower, is a beautiful flower with a raised cone-shaped centre that bees and butterflies love to settle on. The flower also contains pollen and nectar.

A shrub belonging to the mint family, Caryopteris (Caryopteris × clandonensis) with blue pollen and blooms. At the height of bee season, this late-blooming plant provides honey and pollen.

Catmint (Nepeta spp.): The fragrant and long-lasting flowers of catmint are known for their powerful aroma. The little blue blossoms are frequent nectar sources for honey bees and bumble bees alike.

The honey bees find the sweet nectar of the Borage plant (Borago officinalis) very appealing. Bees find its star-shaped blue blossoms to be an abundant food source.
When other flowers are in short supply, bees rely on the nectar that goldenrod (Solidago spp.) blooms in late summer and autumn to provide. Despite the frenzied thrashing of autumn winds, the vivid yellow blossoms of this plant attract a variety of insects, including bees, beetles, lone wasps, and flower flies.

Can pollinators benefit from little gardens?

For pollinators like the voracious honey bee, even a little garden may make a difference. Pollinator populations, particularly in urban areas, often struggle to fly the distance to the next bloom. Some pollination ecologists feel that even a single pot of flowers on each porch might help.

Particularly for smaller bees, who can't cover much ground in a single tank, this is the case. They rely on frequent refuelling to continue moving, so your little garden may have a significant impact on their small lives.

If you want to know how planting a little garden affects honey bees, it's like setting out cookies for your favourite "girl" scouts. Feel free to go with it.