What to do in the garden for May with Pugh's Garden Village
- ontargetmedia8
- Apr 29
- 2 min read
Our monthly column from Roger Crookes, the garden expert at Pugh's Garden Centre, gives us all the tips and tricks to help bees thrive.
Hardly a week goes by without us hearing about our native wildlife being under threat; insects and particularly bees have been struggling to thrive for decades. No surprise really, when we think about how we have been spraying gallons of insecticides onto our crops to kill insects and taking away their ‘homes’ as we tidy up our land in our drive to be more efficient. The thing is, without insects we will struggle to produce a lot of our food … so how efficient is that?
The good news is that there is plenty we can do in our gardens to help our tiny friends regain healthy numbers, and put a buzz back into our gardens…
Grow Plants - It may sound obvious, but the advance of concrete gardens is depriving the original owners of your land (insects - they lived there before you and I did) of anywhere to live.. A few easy to grow plants, and a bit of soil, is all they are asking for…..and we of course get the benefit of ‘the feel good factor’ of plants.
Compost corner - Find a hidden-away corner, maybe behind a shed or big plant, and pile up some green waste; leaves, grass cuttings, dead flowers. We call it a compost heap but in reality it is also a vital part of the food chain, in your own back garden. Insects, frogs, and hedgehogs etc will love the warmth of your little compost piles, and of course you get the added benefit of nutrient rich compost…it’s a win win!
Give a bug a home - We are all aware of bird nesting boxes, but you can now also buy nesting boxes for ladybirds, lacewings and other garden friendly insects – see our attractive options in either of the Pughs Garden Centres.
Use less insecticides – Try to tolerate a little insect damage to our plants, and achieve a natural balance? (I have visited a beautiful tropical rainforest and there were plenty of plants with some insect damage, and a wonderful continual ‘buzz in the air’ it looked like nature at its best!)
