Articles
Nature Chain Articles
Nature Chain regularly writes and publishes articles about wildlife friendly gardening and related information. Please browse our catalogue of articles below.
Latest Articles
No Mow May
26 April 2024
Time for NOT mowing the lawn again, as Plantlife's No Mow May is around the corner!
As a reminder, here's the link to the article Nature Chain's Paul and Loulou wrote a couple of years ago: No Mow May.
No Mow May gives a boost to flowers and insects (and hence birds and other animals that feed on them) at the start of the season, when food demands are increasing but supply can be limited. It can therefore help wildlife out at what could otherwise be a difficult time. However, those demands don't simply cease at the end of May and cutting the lawn short for the rest of the summer can undo some of the good. So, why not build on No Mow May and have a rough plan for the whole year - leaving some parts to grow long, others to only mow once a month, whilst keeping some short areas for recreation? And leaving a few corners through the winter will help wildlife survive until it's time for No Mow May next year! Rotating areas from year to year may also help maintain good growth throughout your lawn.
For more information on how long grass can substantially increase the number and types of butterflies in your garden, please see here.
If you haven't done so already, give it a try!
A Simple Bee Hotel
23 March 2024
Spring is upon us, so it’s time to start thinking about the burst of life it will bring to our gardens, including solitary bees.
There are over 240 solitary bee species in the UK, so these form an important component of our ecology. Many, such as miner bees, nest in holes in the ground, whilst others, such as mason and leafcutter bees, will nest in holes in trees and walls – or artificial bee hotels.
As the Natural History Society of Northumbria says: ‘Inside a solitary bee nest is a series of egg cells, each protected by a wall of material and provisioned with nectar and pollen. Male eggs are laid towards the front of the entrance, so that they emerge before the females and are ready to mate in the following year. The female’s larvae remain within these cells until the following year and emerge as fully-formed adults, ready to mate and start the cycle again. Solitary bees are only on the wing for a matter of weeks, so it is a race against time for females to complete their nests and ensure their larvae are fully provisioned.’
Credit: Jernej Polajnar (Licence)
Bee hotels can take many forms, but one of the simplest ways to make one is to drill holes in an old log or piece of wood. Obviously avoid wood which has been treated with preservative. It should also be over 10cm thick (see below).
Make sure you position the hotel in a sunny spot, with the entrances facing south, or east towards the morning sun. It is best off the ground, but waist to head height is fine. If it can be positioned to shade it from the midday sun and any rain, then all the better – even a piece of wood nailed to give a small overhang might help.
Log bee hotel. Credit: Blooming Lucky
Simply drill holes into the wood and make the holes as deep as your drill bits will allow, but ensure the holes do not go all the way through. Mason bees like deep holes (at least 10cm deep), so Nature Chain has a couple of long drill bits which you can borrow, together with a selection of other drill bits – if you wish to borrow them, please email us using the email address given below. If you use a variety of drill diameters (from 2-10mm) it will encourage different bee species but do sand down the hole entrances to avoid splinters, which might damage/discourage the bees. It is also better to drill with the grain rather than across it (ie drill into the end of the log not its sides). To find out more, come to our stand at the Village Fête on 8 June.
Finally, if you'd also like to encourage miner bees, why not fill a pot with sand and put it in a sunny spot (ideally sheltered from the worst of the rain) and hopefully they will burrow into it.
Steve Best