How to create a butterfly garden
We know its important to support bees but what about butterflies? These are important pollinators too. Butterflies are a good barometer of the environment generally, because they’re sensitive to environmental changes. There’s a lot that can go wrong in a butterfly’s life cycle, from the weather to someone spraying the plants that caterpillars feed on. Here at New Leaf HQ we have embarked on the planting of a butterfly garden. We have created two designs for you. This one for a larger space and below for a smaller window box.
This window box allows for Perennials to attract bees and butterflies and for summer long flowering. You can help to create a B-Line according to Bug Life there are essential.
Why do we need action?
Our bees, butterflies and hoverflies have suffered badly over the last fifty or so years, due to changes in land use as a result of modern farming methods, urban spread and new transport links. Over 97% (an area the size of Wales) of all flower-rich grasslands have been lost in England since the 1930s, (and this is mirrored in other parts of Britain) reducing pollen and nectar sources and leading to a serious decline in the wildlife depending on wildflower-rich habitat.
What are B-Lines?
B-Lines are an imaginative and beautiful solution to the problem of the loss of flowers and pollinators. The B-Lines are a series of ‘insect pathways’ running through our countryside and towns, along which we are restoring and creating a series of wildflower-rich habitat stepping stones. They link existing wildlife areas together, creating a network, like a railway, that will weave across the British landscape. This will provide large areas of brand new habitat benefiting bees and butterflies– but also a host of other wildlife.
Please enjoy these garden plans to create your own B Lines in Somerset and beyond.