Starting our pollinator garden
I’m not a ‘Gardener’. It all happened by accident, really. Actually, less by accident, more by Global Pandemic…
This is the ‘origins’ story’ of our pollinator garden, a little haven of calm in an increasingly dis-regulated world. I’ll be writing a blog over the coming months which details the joy of growing from a seasonal perspective and the learning I’m making along the way. It will detail how to make your garden more friendly to pollinating insects and the abundant wildlife which we are so lucky to have in Marden.
I don’t think I could ever be called a ‘Gardener’, at least not one with a capital G! Every day there is a new discovery when you’re in amongst the weeds. Our family (me, him and his 2 kids under 10) moved to Marden into a new-build property in February 2020.
Lockdown, a completely featureless strip of grass and a lot of mental disquiet started the green shoots of a new hobby. When we were all trapped inside our homes, the garden (or lack, thereof, in our case) became a refuge for many in the UK.
I’d always had a love of nature and the idea of a creating pollinator and wildlife garden appealed to me. However, having this blank canvas and not a clue about what to plant and where to plant was daunting. The good news for anyone starting out is that the learning happens as you go along. Here are my three most important learnings over the last 2 years:
If a plant struggles in one spot, then check that the light/ soil type is right, either place it in a pot or move it to a place in the garden with more suitable light levels. And if it then dies…. It dies! It’s trial and error. You can’t win ‘em all.
Slugs are not the enemy. Or blackfly. Or those million Rosebay Willowherb seedlings which seem to have popped up overnight. Everything has an important part in the food-chain. Without slugs there would be no frogs. No Blackfly means no ladybirds. Rosebay Willowherb (or ‘Fireweed’) is the larval plant of the stunningly beautiful Elephant Hawk Moth. If you want a wildlife garden then you learn to share that space with some of the more frustrating inhabitants!
Be kind to yourself. Not all gardening jobs are ‘fun’ jobs. If it feels like you’re not enjoying it, put it aside to do another day. It can wait.
For anyone who finds themselves in a similar position to me in February 2020 and unsure where to begin, then I have some recommendations which have been a huge help. These are my Big 4 rules for starting out on a pollinator garden:
1 - GOOGLE IT! - the first thing I did, (which might seem obvious) was to go online and Google native pollinator plants. There should ideally be a mix of at least 2-1 Northern Hemisphere plants to Southern Hemisphere plants. Online retailers such as Crocus and RHS have handy guides and filters which allow you to find out the sunlight and soil requirements along with how tall the plants grow (but for really green credentials, actually purchase the plants from some of our local nurseries listed in the Marden Gardener’s directory)! You can find a great list of pollinator plants at rhs.org.uk/plantsforpollinators
2 - LOCAL IS BEST - the next recommendation is to try and use local varieties of shrubs and trees where possible, as you know they will flourish in our soil and weather conditions. My garden has:
Kentish cobnut
local Elder (dropped by a bird and seeded in the flowerbed)!
Spindle (Euonymus europaeus)
Kent Napoleon Cherry
Kentish Sunset Apples
Local ivy from cuttings (birds and insects love the berries)
3 - IT DOESN’T HAVE TO ‘BEE’ PERFECT - it doesn’t matter if the garden is a hotch-potch of colours and plant types. Pollinators love variety and a mix of annuals and perennials. Lots of colours, uneven spacing and heights between plants encourages a wider variety of bees, bugs, hoverflies, wasps, moths and butterflies. Think of your ideal pollinator garden more like a Jackson Pollock painting than a manicured and regimented Chelsea Flower Show affair.
4 - JOIN THE WILDLIFE GROUP - Marden Wildlife Group have been a fantastic and fascinating source of information. You can join their group on Facebook and they have in-person meetings, wildlife talks such as moth talks, bat walks and bird-ringing. They are always happy to answer any questions you might have on how to make your garden more wildlife-friendly.
Right now the garden has exploded into colour after the welcome rains, with Japanese anemones, hardy geraniums, cosmos, apples dripping from the branches and salvias in a riot of colours.
As we move ever deeper into the Autumn, I will be talking about the preparations looking towards the next growing season, and how to make plans for your garden to provide hibernation habitats for wildlife over the colder months.
Hard to believe the garden is now approaching it’s 3rd winter, but there is always something joyously distracting from the noise of modern life to be found in our little patch. Time certainly does fly when you are being present among the plants.
Contributed by Helen Bosher