How can you help pollinators in your own garden or green space?  

There are many ACTIONS FOR INSECTS & POLLINATORS that you can take.  We must understand that every insect has a relationship with a flower/plant and every plant has a relationship with an insect, pollinator or wild creature.  Us creatures are like a mirror image of plants, so together we make a whole ecological system…..

Here are some ideas below:

  – Change your own mind about what is a ‘weed’, as they are usually our most valuable wild plants and medicines

 – Change your own mind about what is ‘messy and overgrown – choose to see it as a wildlife refuge and sanctuary.  Make a sign if you want to: https://wearetheark.org 

 – Create various habitats, such as native hedges, small woodlands, food & herb garden, wildlife ponds, compost heaps, wildflower lawns and meadows, stones walls, embankments

 – Choose to plant native plants, eg. Red Campion and trees, such as Elder and Hawthorn (there are many more!)

 – Do not use any chemicals, use home made tonics and teas instead.  Vinegar if you really need something – but make sure it is diluted

 – Let wild flowers and grasses grow – let a patch of nettles, bramble and ivy grow

 – Mow your playing areas and pathways regularly – mow the rest of the areas less often.  Experiment – there is no one formula!

 – Mulch plants to create soil and soil habitat – I will come back to this topic as it deserves a full blog!

 – Put logs and twigs around the base of trees, shrubs, bushes and hedges.  This creates log pile habitats, so vital for many of these insects in their different less-obvious life phases, eg. some beetle larvae stay in dead wood for 7 years before they emerge! 

Visit these following website for further information:

https://pollinators.biodiversityireland.ie