How to provide bushes for nesting birds
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In the spring, birds choose the best locations to build nests, so why not offer them a safe place to settle?
Many of our prettiest insects feed on nectar, so need flowering plants for their survival. Butterflies, moths, bees and hoverflies all need sources of nectar and pollen to thrive. As they travel from flower to flower, they also pollinate them, enabling them to set seed or bear fruit. So, setting up a nectar café benefits both your plants and you, allowing you to enjoy the flitting and fluttering of beautiful butterflies.
Setting up a nectar café not only benefits your garden, but allows you to enjoy the fluttering of beautiful butterflies too
Setting up your nectar café:
- Choose a sheltered sunny spot
- Place each plant in groups or drifts so that the colour and scent are easy to detect
- Prolong the flowering season – select plants so that you have a show of flowers from early spring to late autumn
- choose flowers with a simple (often flat) structure, like old cottage varieties, as they are the easiest for insects to feed from
- Remember to provide a night-time feast for moths. Plant some night-scented flowers.
- Add herbs to the mix as they are highly attractive to insects, or design a dedicated herb garden
Nectar plant suggestions
| Early season | Mid season | Late season |
| Aubretia spp | Heather - Erica cinerea | Coneflower - Echinacea spp. |
| English bluebell - Hyacinthoides non-scripta | Lady’s bedstraw - Galium verum | French marigold - Tagetes patula |
| Currant - Ribes spp. | Lavender - Lavandula angustifolia | Golden rod - Solidago spp. |
| Grape hyacinth - Muscari armeniacum | Common mallow - Malva sylvestri | Honeysuckle - Lonicera periclymenum |
| Lungwort - Pulmonaria officinalis | Purple toadflax - Linaria purpurea | Ice plant - Sedum spectabile |
| Primrose - Primula vulgaris | Rock cress - Arabis spp. | Ivy - Hedera helix |
| Sweet violet - Viola odorata | Sea holly - Eryngium maritimum | Meadow saffron - Colchicum autumnale |
| Winter aconite - Eranthis hyemalis | Verbena - Verbena bonariensis | Michaelmas daisy - Aster pyrenaeus |
| Wood anemone - Anemone nemorosa | Wallflower - Erysimum cheiri | Common sunflower - Helianthus annuus |
| Alyssum - Alyssum montanum | Red valerian - Centranthus ruber |
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More ways you can help bees
How to attract bumblebees to your garden
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The best plants for bumblebees! Bees are important pollinating insects, but they are under threat. You can help them by planting bumblebee-friendly flowers.
How to make a Christmas wreath for birds
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With food, water and shelter scarce over the winter months, give your garden birds a treat with an edible Christmas wreath.
Contact your MP
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By writing to your MP or meeting them in person, you can help them to understand more about a local nature issue you care passionately about.
How to compost your waste
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Instead of sending your green waste to landfill, create your own compost.
Grow wildlife-friendly herbs
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Planting herbs will attract important pollinators into your garden, which will, in turn, attract birds and small mammals looking for a meal.