Planting a bee garden

[thepollenbasket]

We have moved into a new property as of last November which has lovely level ground next to a river, but it is paddock land and constitutes mainly buttercups. Over the coming months /years I would like to turn this into a foraging bee paradise to produce a mixed floral honey.

Has anyone done anything similar before? Do you have any tips?

thanks

 

[theboynelson]

I have tried to create wild flower meadows in the past, it's not actually all that easy. If you have a paddock and it has had livestock on it in the past the soil might be too rich. This will lead the grasses to push anything else out. As long as your not in a SSSI, yellow rattle is a hemi-parasite of grass that can be sown and will reduce its vigour allowing naturally present wildflowers to flourish. I am saying this as if it is easy, but the reality is that it takes years and the yellow rattle will grow where it wants and not where you do.

 

[enrico]

I have tried to create wild flower meadows in the past, it's not actually all that easy. If you have a paddock and it has had livestock on it in the past the soil might be too rich. This will lead the grasses to push anything else out. As long as your not in a SSSI, yellow rattle is a hemi-parasite of grass that can be sown and will reduce its vigour allowing naturally present wildflowers to flourish. I am saying this as if it is easy, but the reality is that it takes years and the yellow rattle will grow where it wants and not where you do.

We have tried so often! I find the easiest thing is to prepare a large area of ground and then plant a whole area of a similar type of annual that will reseed easily such as phacelia which bees like. Our wild flower lawns have always been more trouble than they are worth and there is a fine line between a wonderful meadow and a mess!
Good luck
E

 

[Erichalfbee]

This is just what we have, except substitute pond for river and we are on a slight slope.

Two of our three acres will be mown in Spring and in Autumn and we will borrow some sheep to graze it over winter. Then it's a question of wait and see.
The other acre I have grander plans for.
It will be close mown twice then areas will be scarified down to the soil and I will plant borage,poppies and various wildflower combinations in a packet.
I plan to mow in the autumn and sow some yellow rattle to reduce the grass a little.
The Apiary is near the pond where I have planted butterwort and where there are already lots of different willows.
2000 crocuses will go in later in the year to give bees early forage near the hives.

There is already a small orchard and I will add to that in time.


My garden is about quarter of a mile away and I already have masses of snowdrops, hellebores and sedums. The sedums will get The Chelsea Chop later this spring and I will root all the cuttings and transplant them into the field as far from the apiary as I can. I noticed some Balsam in one corner so I will leave that alone

Of course the answer is to take off the topsoil and start again but I'm not in a position to do that so I'll take it slowly.

Best of luck...it's not easy unless you get machinery in

 

[Lorenz]

Need to get rid of the grass and ideally the soil should not be full of fertiliser, but a pollinator mix like this one will grow most places. Time to get a wriggle on as soon as the snow clears.

 

[Erichalfbee]

In this bloody freezing weather that pic is a joy to behold. I'll just warm my hands on it! Thanks

 

[Luminos]

Level ground next to a river sounds ominous to me, especially backed up by buttercups...
You could try moisture loving plants such as Lady's Smock, Primula etc

 

[itma]

Willow?

Yellow Rattle is normally the first thing sown - to give wildflowers some chance against the grass.

And Ivy isn't necessarily a bad idea.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Willow?

Yellow Rattle is normally the first thing sown - to give wildflowers some chance against the grass.

And Ivy isn't necessarily a bad idea.

Yep, get that Yellow Rattle in but it needs the seed to be fresh and it needs a period of low temperature to allow it to germinate. Hence planting in the autumn after your cut and letting winter get it started.
If you have seed you might try putting it in the fridge for a couple of weeks first.

PS
The Apiary is near the pond where I have planted butterwort and where there are already lots of different willows.

Per previous post butterwort should read butterbur

 

[Midland Beek]

Need to get rid of the grass and ideally the soil should not be full of fertiliser, but a pollinator mix like this one will grow most places. Time to get a wriggle on as soon as the snow clears.

Spot-on.

You cannot really establish what we fondly know as 'wildflower meadows'. These take decades to establish, and if you were to plant wildflower seeds in your meadow the grass would simply crowd any other plants out, and this is especially the case if the land has recieved any fertilizer in the last decade.

Bee brutal. Pay local farmer to plough and harrow, and then plant wildflower seeds. If the area is smaller, hire a cultivator. Seek advice on the use of selective herbicides to control re-growth of grass.

Local Wildlife Trust may provide advice.

 

[djg]

I agree with itma about Willow as a larger feature for your meadow. Around this time of year (and even more so this freezing year!) its early pollen will give a real boost to foragers, before many meadow-plants are in flower.

Also agree with Midland Beek that some harsh-seeming actions may be necessary. Once the meadow is established, it will probably need to be mowed at mid-season (post seeding) to prevent more aggressive plants crowding out many of the wildflowers : "One man went to mow, went to mow a meadow".

 

[Gimlet]

Every time I've tried to increase the wild flowers in my 3 acre plot I've ended up with stinging nettles and dock leaves taking over.

Now I just try to avoid mowing the few wild flowers that come up in the hope that they'll increase naturally.

I've got about half a dozen patches with yellow rattle that seem to be getting bigger each year plus a few patches of vetches, trefoils, toadflax, thrift and teasels.

 

[busy_bee]

Creating Wildflower Bee friendly spaces

And don't forget that trees, shrubs and hedgerows provide important sources of nectar and pollen too

Happy planting.

 

[skovers]

To encourage planting of bee friendly plants, I've taken to attaching seeded paper the the honey I sell. It's not as large scale as planting up an acre of wild flower meadow, but, if just a few of my customers are encouraged to plant bee friendly plants, I think it's worth it. It also makes my honey stand out from the crowd!!

 

[Erichalfbee]

What a great idea.
I had a Christmas card that was seeded......I must find it.
Where do you get seeded paper from?

 

[Luminos]

Looks really good, skovers

 

[skovers]

I ordered them from the web. There's a site called beefriendlypaper.webs.com they will seed the paper with british seeds and they're reasonably priced.

 

[Lorenz]

Nice, scovers

 

[richardbees]

"...and don't forget that trees, shrubs and hedgerows provide important sources of nectar and pollen too "

busy bee

A) are you aware this is a forum for beekeepers and not year 3 school children ?

B) why is a Somerset beekeeper using their first post to make such a crass promo for a London BKA project?

 

[Erichalfbee]

Nevertheless if you take a look at the site there is a very useful page showing what blooms when ..........and some pretty pictures