• Bees are too small to drink from ponds or bird baths so place outside a small plate with water, as bees do get thirsty.
• If you see an exhausted bee a simple solution of sugar and water can help to revive
• Make sure something is blooming each season – some bee species are active all year around.
• Make a border – by bordering your fruits and vegetables with flowers you will improve the pollination of your crops and also support bees when the crops stop blooming.
• Go easy on chemicals.

If you really want to help bees, then maybe you could add a touch of the wild to your garden – it is best to sow in Spring, but you can also sow in Autumn, especially if you have light sandy soils that aren’t prone to waterlogging.

Perennial wildflowers adapt easily to a hard life, liking impoverished soil that isn’t too rich. It is best to grow a wildflower meadow in an area that you wouldn’t normally cultivate or one that has been left for a while.

A wild meadow can be made up of the following – plantains, docks buttercups, vetches and clovers as well as dandelions and nettles

You can buy ready-made wildflowers meadow mixes for different soil  types and situations, and also also buy seed mixes – if you make this up yourself, you will need 1g per square metre of pure wildflower seeds and 5g per square metre of grass and wildflower meadow seeds.

Give your spare space a good weeding before sowing as these will compete for space, light and food, dig over the soil, scatter the seeds and ensure the soil remains moist and warm whilst the flowers are germinating.

You can also deadhead  as plants fade to bloom and in late Autumn wildflowers can be mown to about 6 inches above the ground.

Perennial wildflowers will not bloom until a full season after they are planted, but they can last for decades.

After walking around the beautiful  RHS Harlow Carr Gardens, I am now determined to do something to help the bee population – so am now going to the garden centre to buy my ready-made wildflower seed.

At David Phillip Estate agents we are listing some properties with lovely gardens, check out Daleside at Creskeld Gardens in Bramhope which has beautiful views too.

For a free market appraisal ring David Phillip Estate Agents, Bramhope, Leeds  t: 01134 676 400 w: davidphillip.co.uk e: info@davidphillip.co.uk