Last updated on October 23rd, 2023 at 08:35 pm
In large agricultural fields and tidy gardens, bees, bumblebees and butterflies hardly find food and shelter. With special seed mixtures and a little space, you can help them.
Bees and other insects find less and less food and habitats. Honey bees, wild bees and butterflies need the greatest possible variety of flowering plants. But in agriculture, only a few varieties are cultivated, for example rapeseed. And when these have faded, food for the insects can become scarce. Gardens often don’t have many flowers either.
At the same time, insects are important. Because by pollinating the flowers, they ensure that the plants bear fruit.
That’s why many people are making efforts to help bees and butterflies. One way is to plant so-called flower strips. These are small areas where many different flowering plants grow, which serve as a source of food for the bees. Such an area with many flowers is often called a bee pasture.
There is room for flowers in many places!
Many different areas can be used as bee pastures: a corner in the garden, a strip next to the schoolyard, or even a balcony box. The most important thing is to have a variety of plants that bloom at different times. In addition, they should be native plants, so that the bees also fly to them.
A flowering area can be created quite easily with a ready-made seed mixture. These are available from many seed dealers. The mixtures are usually called “bee pasture”. Tips for suitable seeds are available, for example, from the Blooming Landscape Network.
Such a seed mixture can contain many different types of seeds. Often there are about 20 to 30 varieties, sometimes much more. These include, for example, clover, sunflowers, chamomile, marigolds, corn poppies, thistles and dill.
How is seed sown?
There are annual or perennial seed mixes. In annual mixtures, the area flowers only in the first year after sowing, and in winter the areas die. Perennial mixtures contain plants that bloom only in the years after. As a result, the area looks different every year!
Sowing is uncomplicated. On the packages is usually described how to do it. As a rule, you should sow between April and June. For this, a loose soil is necessary. A lawn, for example, must first be removed or tilled.
The seed mixture is then spread on the soil. A few grams of seed per square meter are sufficient. The seeds should penetrate the soil no more than a few millimeters deep. The soil is then tapped or trampled into place. In the first weeks, the soil should always be kept moist!
Soon the first green plant tips will appear – and in summer the first flowers. Depending on the seed mixture, various plants bloom well into the fall.