In short: Create an insect-friendly garden or balcony by choosing native flowering plants, providing food year-round, and offering varied nesting sites. Avoid pesticides and maintain your garden with low-intensity care. Even small areas with suitable flowers, deadwood, and a patch of sandy soil can make a crucial difference for wild bees and other insects.
Support Wild Bees: Create an Insect-Friendly Garden & Balcony
Practical steps to increase biodiversity right outside your door.
Table of contents
Why do we need wild bees in the garden?
More than 560 wild bee species live in Germany. Most are solitary and perform irreplaceable pollination work. They often pollinate fruit trees, berry bushes, and vegetable plants more effectively than honey bees.
Many wild bees are specialists. They collect pollen only from specific plant families. If these plants disappear, the corresponding bee species disappears too. Your garden can be a lifeline.
A diverse insect population aerates the soil, fertilizes plants, and provides food for birds. This creates the foundation for a stable ecosystem. It all starts with choosing the right plants.
A garden without wild bees is like an orchestra without violins. There may still be sounds, but the essential melody and diversity are missing.
How do you choose the right flowers for bees?
The first step is to avoid double flowers. They look lush, but often produce neither pollen nor nectar. Wild bees cannot reach the few resources that are available.
Choose native flowering plants. They are adapted to our climate and provide the right food for the insects that live here. Exotic ornamental plants are often of little value.
Pro tip
Do not plant a random mix of colors; instead, plant small groups of the same species. Wild bees are “flower-faithful” and prefer to visit many blooms of one plant species before moving on to the next. This saves energy.
Choose plants with different flowering periods. The season begins in March with willows and ends in October with ivy. This provides a continuous food supply from spring through fall.
Native perennials and herbs are particularly valuable. These include viper’s bugloss, meadow sage, bellflowers, oregano, wild marjoram, and scabious. You will find a wide selection of suitable flowers and seed mixes in our range.
Top 10 bee-friendly plants
- Spring: Pussy willow, lungwort, pasque flower
- Early summer: Viper’s bugloss, meadow sage, columbine
- Midsummer: Wild marjoram (oregano), thyme, lavender, knapweed
- Late summer/fall: Ivy, sedum, asters
Do not forget trees and shrubs. Cornelian cherry, blackthorn, hawthorn, and wild roses are excellent sources of pollen and nectar. They also provide shelter and nesting opportunities.
How do you create a natural balcony?
Every balcony can become an insect oasis. Start with your containers. Deep pots and planters hold more water and give roots more room. Use high-quality, peat-free potting soil.
Plant your boxes with perennial plants instead of only annual summer flowers. Herbs such as thyme, sage, chives, and borage are perfect for sunny balconies. They are easy to care for, fragrant, and flower abundantly.
Provide a shallow dish of water with pebbles. The stones serve as landing places and prevent insects from drowning. Birds also use this drinking station.
Additional advice
A large pot or wooden box filled with nutrient-poor sand and loam becomes a nesting aid for ground-nesting wild bees. Place it in a sunny, sheltered spot. Keep the surface dry and free of vegetation.
Climbing plants such as native bryony or sweet pea add greenery to railings and provide extra flowers. A small insect hotel on a south- or east-facing wall completes the offering.
Do not use chemical fertilizers or pesticides. Organic fertilizer from our plant fertilizer range is all you need. Water in the morning or evening to minimize evaporation.
How do you build a functional insect hotel?
A poorly built insect hotel does more harm than good. The most common mistakes are rough drill holes that cause injuries and unsuitable filling materials. Avoid pinewood, fir cones, and glass tubes.
Use hardwood such as beech, oak, or ash. Drill the holes across the grain to prevent cracks. The holes must have smooth inner walls. Sand the entrances afterward.
Offer a range of hole diameters. Between 2 and 10 millimeters is ideal. The depth should be about 8 to 10 times the diameter. Do not drill the holes all the way through the wood.
Important note
Never hang the insect hotel in full shade or facing north. Ideally, place it in a sunny spot protected from rain and wind, at least one meter above ground. Secure it firmly so that it does not swing.
For construction, you need suitable garden tools. A precision-working ("Wunderschere" - the all-purpose cutter) is ideal for cutting reed or pithy stems cleanly to length.
Pithy stems from blackberry, mullein, or elder are a natural alternative to drilled holes. Cut them to bundle length and seal one end with clay. Or choose a ready-made, species-appropriate model such as the (Cadoca insect hotel).
The best nesting aid is often the garden itself. A sunny, bare patch of ground, piles of deadwood, and old gaps in walls are used by more species than any ornate hotel.
Materials for your DIY insect hotel
- Nesting blocks: Hardwood (beech, oak) with clean drilled holes
- Reed/pith stems: Closed at the back, smoothly cut at the front
- Deadwood: With a range of hole sizes for beetles
- Clay bricks: For mason bees and wasps
- Roofing material: Roofing felt or shingles to protect from rain
Which maintenance practices really help insects?
Let your garden get a little untidy. Leave dried perennial stems standing over winter. Insects overwinter inside their hollow or pith-filled stems. Mow meadow areas late in the season, and never mow them all at once.
Create patches of bare ground. Many wild bees, including mining bees, nest in the ground. A sunny patch with sandy-loamy soil and sparse vegetation is ideal. Don’t hoe or dig in these areas.
Create a deadwood pile. Stacked branches and tree trunks provide shelter for countless insects, spiders and small mammals. Deadwood is a living part of the food web.
Use rainwater to water your plants. It’s free of limescale and better for most plants. A rain barrel from our garden irrigation range helps you become more self-sufficient and protect the environment.
Avoid chemical pesticides and herbicides altogether. They kill beneficial organisms as well as pests. If problems arise, try mechanical methods or biological controls.
Which mistakes should you avoid?
The biggest mistake is using pesticides. Even products labeled “bee-friendly” can be deadly to wild bees. They can disrupt bees’ sense of direction or harm larval development.
Mowing the lawn too often and too short destroys flowers. Let at least the edges or a few patches grow longer. Clover, daisies and other wild plants can flower there.
“Tidying up” in fall removes places where insects can overwinter. Leave leaves under hedges, perennial stems and deadwood in place until spring. Wait to tidy up until temperatures stay consistently above 10 degrees.
Exotic plants such as forsythia, geraniums and ornamental cherries usually provide little or no food for pollinators. They can’t replace native species. Choose plants for their value to wildlife, not just their appearance.
Don’t place insect hotels in the wrong spot or fill them with unsuitable materials. Styrofoam, straw and fir cones are useless. Plastic or glass tubes encourage mold and can become death traps.
Think about how you store your garden tools and supplies, too. A sturdy (12-bottle wine box) can hold more than bottles. Use it to sort and store seed packets, small tools or harvested produce.
Every garden and balcony makes a difference. With these practical steps, you can create a thriving refuge for wildlife. Support biodiversity and discover the fascinating world of wild bees up close. Start creating a bee-friendly corner today.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Which flowers are best for wild bees?
- Wild bees need single flowers with pollen and nectar they can easily reach. Native perennials such as viper’s bugloss, meadow sage, bellflowers, oregano and wild marjoram are ideal. Choose plants that bloom at different times from early spring through fall to provide a steady food supply.
- How do I build a good insect hotel?
- Use only hardwood such as beech or oak for the nesting blocks. Drill holes in different diameters, between 2 and 10 mm, and make sure their edges are clean and smooth. Fillings such as pithy stems (blackberry) or bundles of reeds must be closed at the back. Hang the hotel in a sunny spot sheltered from rain and wind.
- Can I help wild bees on my balcony?
- Yes. Even a small balcony can provide an important food source. Plant bee-friendly herbs such as thyme, sage and marjoram in pots. A shallow dish of water with pebbles makes a good drinking spot. Compact insect hotels for mason bees or a pot filled with sandy soil can provide nesting sites.
- What are the biggest mistakes to avoid when helping wild bees?
- The biggest mistakes include planting double flowers that provide no nectar, using pesticides, choosing unsuitable nesting aids with roughly drilled holes or glass tubes, and mowing or clearing too often. In fall, leave dried stems and leaves in place as overwintering sites.
- Why are wild bees important for my garden?
- Wild bees are efficient pollinators that help ensure good fruit and vegetable harvests. Many species depend on specific plants, which helps preserve biodiversity. Wild bees are also a sign of a healthy, functioning ecosystem right in your backyard.
You may also be interested in
- A garden for biodiversity: Attract insects and grow a variety of flowers
- Wild bees in the garden: Create and protect their habitat
- Bee-friendly balcony plants: Support biodiversity in a small space
- Flowering areas in the garden: Create a haven for insects
- Protect insects year-round: Create a garden for beneficial insects
- Build a wild bee hotel: A DIY guide for your garden