Why a Small Garden Still Counts

It is tempting to think that helping bees needs a meadow, an orchard or at least a generous country border. The opposite is true. Taken together, British gardens cover a greater area than all our national nature reserves combined, and most of that space sits in towns and cities. A courtyard, a balcony eight floors up or a couple of window boxes form stepping stones in a network that bees use to cross the landscape. Get the basics right and even a few square metres will hum from April to October.

Bees are not fussy about scale. They are fussy about food, water and shelter, and all three can be supplied in pots, troughs, hanging baskets and the odd gap in a wall.

Know Which Bees You Are Feeding

Of the roughly 270 bee species in Britain, just one is the honeybee. Around two dozen are bumblebees and the rest are solitary bees, each with its own habits. That variety matters when you choose plants.

• Short-tongued bumblebees (buff-tailed, white-tailed, early bumblebee) feed on open, shallow flowers — daisies, sedums, brambles, alliums.
• Long-tongued bumblebees (garden bumblebee, carder bees) can reach into deep bells such as foxgloves, comfrey and deadnettles.
• Solitary bees include red mason bees, out from March, and leafcutter bees from late May. They nest in hollow stems and drilled holes, so leaving some structure in the garden pays off.
• Honeybees will work almost anything in quantity, which is why big clumps beat scattered singles.

Queen bumblebees emerge as early as February and March, often in cold, wet weather when little is in flower. Anything you can offer then is genuinely valuable.

Plants That Earn Their Place

In a small space, every pot has to work hard. Choose plants that flower generously, cope with containers and give the bees something worth the trip.

• Lavender — English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) in a sunny spot with gritty, free-draining compost. One plant can carry hundreds of bees in July. Trim lightly after flowering, never into the old woody stems.
• Foxgloves — native Digitalis purpurea tolerates some shade, self-seeds into gravel and cracks, and is a favourite of long-tongued bumblebees.
• Comfrey — Symphytum 'Bocking 14' is sterile, so it will not run riot by seed, but it is bulky. Give it one large pot or a back corner and cut it back after flowering for a second flush.
• Herbs — rosemary, thyme, oregano, mint and borage. All happy in pots, all bee magnets. Let mint and oregano flower rather than snipping every bud.
• Quick annuals — borage, calendula, cornflower and single-flowered cosmos. Sow in May for flowers within weeks.
• Late-season colour — sedum (Hylotelephium), asters, single dahlias and common ivy, whose autumn flowers are one of the best late nectar sources in any town.

Always choose single, open flowers over double varieties. Many modern doubles have lost their nectar and stamens entirely, offering bees nothing but a pretty face.

Water, Shelter and Somewhere to Nest

Bees drink, and they need water to cool their nests and dilute stores. A shallow saucer filled with pebbles or marbles gives them a safe landing platform; refresh it every couple of days in warm weather to stop it turning into a mosquito nursery, and keep it in light shade.

Nesting habitat is the part most small gardens miss. You do not need much:

• A patch of bare, sunny soil for mining bees, which dig their own tunnels.
• Hollow stems — old fennel, teasel or bamboo canes — left standing over winter and cut back in late spring.
• A bundle of bamboo canes or a drilled log, facing south, mounted at least a metre off the ground.
• A dry, undisturbed corner: an untidy compost heap or the space under a shed is classic bumblebee territory.

Feed the Whole Season

Bees need a continuous supply, not a June glut followed by famine. Think in waves:

• February to March: crocus, hellebores, willow catkins, dandelions and winter honeysuckle.
• April to June: fruit blossom, rosemary, wallflowers, alliums, comfrey and foxgloves.
• The June gap: a genuine lull between spring blossom and summer flowers. Bridge it with hardy geraniums, catmint and clover left in the lawn.
• July to September: lavender's second flush, borage, oregano, mint, thyme and sedum.
• October onwards: ivy, asters and the last of the single dahlias, with seedheads left standing.

Group each plant in a decent clump. Bees work a single species efficiently and will visit a solid block of lavender far more heavily than a scattering of one-of-everything.

Go Chemical-Free and a Little Untidy

This is the single most important rule. A garden full of bee-friendly flowers is worthless if it is also sprayed.

• No insecticides. Even those sold as "bee-safe" or derived from plants can harm pollinators, and sprays drift onto flowers in bud.
• No weedkiller on the wildflowers. Dandelions, clover, bird's-foot trefoil and selfheal are among the best nectar sources in a town, and they cost nothing.
• Leave the aphids. A strong jet of water or your fingers will do for most infestations, and the survivors feed ladybirds and blue tits. A few holes in leaves are a sign of life, not failure.
• Skip slug pellets. Metaldehyde harms birds and hedgehogs; use nematodes, barriers or simply sow a little more than you need.

Finally, resist the autumn tidy-up. Leave seedheads for the birds, hollow stems for overwintering solitary bees, and a corner of long grass undisturbed until late spring. Then sit out with a cup of tea and watch what arrives — a small urban garden, well planted and left largely alone, will surprise you.