Help stop the decline of bees by planting up your garden with all kinds of nectar-rich plants. Make their visit worthwhile with a bee border.
- Site the border in full sun and in a sheltered place out of the wind. Bees don't like to be blown around when trying to land on flowers and also prefer flowers in sun rather than shade.
- Sit down with some wildlife gardening books. Write the calendar months on a piece of paper and start choosing bee plants to ensure something is in flower every month. A good plant encyclopedia should give you the flowering period of each plant.
- A must for a bee border is lavender. Plant it between pastel-coloured perennials, such as catmint and verbena or be extravagant and edge the front of the border with an entire row of them.
- Other perennials to plant that provide plenty of pollen and nectar include campanulas, hellebores, ice plant (Sedum spectabile) and sea hollies (eryngium).
- Add a few shrubs at the back of the border; buddleia, hebe, Japanese quince (chaenomeles), mahonia, weigela and winter-flowering honeysuckle (Lonicera purpusii).
- If you garden on acid soil, plant a good swath of heathers (calluna) and heaths (erica). These give great scent and some are winter flowering.
More information from www.rhs.org.uk