Help the local bees flourish! Find out what they like, what they need, and learn how to create a bee garden with these 5 simple steps.
Creating a bee garden will provide you with natural beauty to enjoy all season long. Not only that, you’ll be creating a safe habitat (as long as it’s pesticide and herbicide free!) that supports local bees and other pollinators.
When the temperatures start rising and the early spring blooms emerge, I know we’re one step closer to the arrival of bees in our gardens. Watching the bees working their way through the gardens, buzzing from flower to flower, is one of my favorite things to do on slow afternoons.
We rely on bees for 1 out of every 3 bites of food we eat. According to the USDA, honey bees “pollinate 80 percent of all flowering plants, including more than 130 types of fruits and vegetables.” Honey bees (and the other 4000 species of bees in the United States) will appreciate the bounty of food you grow for them in your landscape.
What do bees need?
- Food | Bees need a nectar and pollen source. In the next section, you can see a list of several plants that bees enjoy. Remember to choose native plants for the local wild bees and pollinators to enjoy, too.
- Water | Bees get thirsty like we do! Ideally, your bee garden will have a water source for them to use such as a bird bath or water feature.
- Shelter | Bare patches of soil, stems, twigs, or patches of tall grass will provide a safe place for your bees to hide from predators or build their nests. Additionally, you can provide the wild bees with a place to overwinter by postponing your garden clean-up until spring.
Which plants do bees like most?
Typically, bees forage for food if the temperature is 55 or above. To ensure that you’re providing a good source of food for the bees you’ll need to plant your bee garden with clusters of plants that bloom from early spring to late fall.
Spring Blooming Plants
- Trees & Shrubs: serviceberry, redbud, maples, apple
- Perennials: crocus, hyacinths, hellebore, primrose, Virginia bluebells, baptisia, dianthus, lupine
- Annual: yellow alyssum
Summer Blooming Plants
- Perennials: native milkweed, coneflower, yarrow, rudbeckia, catmint, monarda, coreopsis, daisies, phlox, lavender
- Annuals: sunflowers, zinnias, salvia (some types are perennial), marigolds, alyssum
Fall Blooming Plants
- Perennials: sedum, goldenrod, bluebeard, aster, helianthus, ironweed
- Summer annuals listed above will bloom well into the fall.
How to Create a Bee Garden in 5 Simple Steps
- Measure the space. You’ll need to plant your bee garden in a full to part sun location, so now is the time to do a little sun mapping. You can download instructions for how to do sun mapping at the end of this section. After you have found a sunny location, measure the space.
- Design: Choose plants that are native to your area, paying close attention to having blooms available from spring until fall. What size of plants can you accommodate in your space? Would you rather use containers? Bees prefer feeding on plants that are in groups rather than rows. For inspiration, check out the link at the end of this post for a pre-made garden design you could tweak for your growing zone.
- Prepare the location. Clear weeds, grass, and other obstructions in the area. Add garden soil & compost if necessary depending on your garden design.
- Purchase your plants and annual seeds from a local greenhouse as they will be best suited to thrive in your area.
- Plant! Follow planting instructions from the nursery and/or seed packets.
Note: DO NOT use herbicides or pesticides in your bee garden.
Following these 5 steps, your yard is sure to be a haven for bees this growing season.
Helpful Links for Creating a Bee Garden:
Frost Dates for Hardiness Zones
