Gardening for bumblebees

Bumblebee Conservation Trust

As a rule of thumb your garden should provide bee-friendly flowers that are rich in pollen and nectar which bees can easily access from spring until late summer. This will ensure that there is a good supply of pollen at the crucial times:

• When the queens are establishing nests.
• When nests are growing.
• When nests are producing new queens and males.
• When queens are fattening up ready for hibernation

You should aim for at least two species of bee-friendly plant for each flowering period. 

No matter what size your garden is, you can contribute to our efforts to save the sound of summer by providing lots of bee-friendly flowers. By beefriendly, we mean flowers that are rich in pollen and nectar.

Many ornamental plants that are commonly found in British gardens, such as pansies and begonias, are of no value to wildlife. Years of cultivation for showy blooms mean that these colourful flowers often produce little pollen or nectar.

There are hundreds of beautiful flowers that do offer these rewards though, including foxgloves, lavender, alliums, herbs and wild roses that you can add to your collection. 

 What to avoid: You should avoid using any pesticides in your garden. They are often labelled as 'bug killers' or something similar, but almost all of these can harm bumblebees, even if you don't intend to harm them

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Creating a bumblebee garden...

The first thing to consider when designing your bee-friendly garden is the type of space you already have, is it sunny, shady, small or big?

The following plant suggestions are based on garden type, and they show the time of year that plant is in flower. This enables you to choose a variety of plants to ensure your garden is in flower throughout the bumblebee lifecycle (March - October).

Gardening is for everyone, so get the kids involved, your friends and local community and start growing a haven for bumblebees!

Read more:

Gardening for bumblebees leaflet. 

A guide to what to grow to help feed bumblebees (PDF)

Bumblebees are hardworking, loveable creatures, but their populations are experiencing great declines. 

The good news is that gardens have been acting as a haven for bumblebees for many years. Some species are now more common in urban and suburban gardens than they are in the wider countryside. 

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