If you’ve been reading the news or watching the amazing legend that is David Attenborough, you’ve probably heard that it’s getting harder for bees to survive in our UK cities.
Just like humans, there are three main things bees need to thrive: food (i.e., pollen), water and shelter. Unfortunately, our gardens aren’t always full of these things, especially in warmer months.
However, there are many simple things you can do in your garden to make it a more attractive place for bees to visit.
If you want to invite more local bees to your garden this summer, here are three top tips to make your garden more bee-friendly in London.
One of the best things you can do for your local bees is to plant flowers full of pollen or nectar for them to enjoy.
Even though most flowers bloom in spring and summer, there are some species you can grow in winter and autumn that’ll continue to attract the bees in colder seasons. As a bonus, they’ll also make your garden look full of life at the end of the year, which can help your garden stand out if you’re selling in winter.
Here’s a quick guide to some of the flowers you can grow in each season:
We love this idea! Building a bee hotel for your garden can provide a shelter for local bees to rest. Creating one is also a great family-friendly activity that ends up with something nice for you and the bees since they can also become a rustic garden feature.
A bee hotel doesn’t need to be very big and should be placed around 1-4 feet off the ground and ideally in a position that gets full sunlight.
Visit the RSPB UK website for a full guide on how to make your own bee hotel.
Even though we often think bees only like flowers, this isn’t true. They also love many different garden herbs. If you want to make your garden more bee-friendly, consider creating an outdoor herb garden in spring or summer.
Common kitchen herbs like thyme, chives, sage and creeping rosemary are ideal for attracting the bees. Plus, they’ll make your garden smell amazing and you can use the cuttings to make fresh meals in the kitchen!
Making your garden bee-friendly is a great way to help the planet. It can make your garden and local area a more environmentally friendly place to live. Plus, having an eco-friendly home can sometimes help with your resale value and attractiveness to future buyers.
Your neighbourhood real estate specialists at Properly can tell you more about how desirable a greener home is in London.
Get in touch with our friendly team today by calling 0207 459 4400 or emailing us at mariel@properly.space for a chat about your property and how we can help.
London Youth work to improve the lives of young people in London, challenging them to become the best they can, and last year helped over 27,000 young people through their sports development, youth action and involvement, arts and outdoor education programmes and employment prospects. We feel strongly that all young people should have an opportunity to develop themselves, and so are delighted to be able to support London Youth in their work, providing young people with access to opportunities they might not otherwise have had, to learn new skills, to make a positive change in their communities and to shape the city they live in.
Glass Door helps homeless men and women in London through their large network of emergency shelters and support services. These winter shelters provide a warm welcome, food, safety and shelter for up to 170 people every night. Properly feels passionately about the issue of homelessness. That is why we are delighted that together with our clients we can assist Glass Door in their fantastic work to help some of the most marginalised people in society.
Families become homeless for reasons we can all identify with. We are concerned about people who are struggling to keep things together in our fast-paced world – and we care about those who have no support. We chose the Doorstep Homeless Family Project because they are passionate and effective yet they are a small team with limited funding. They provide homeless families, living in temporary accommodation in London, with access to services to secure the emotional and practical support they require to enjoy a better quality of life.
We need nature and nature needs us. We support The London Wildlife Trust because we share its concern for the environment. We want to ensure that we keep nature in mind as we work in the property market – and crucially, with people’s homes. We also want our employees to engage with nature and benefit from the wellbeing this brings. London Wildlife Trust cares for over 37 of London’s spaces, and their vision is: “a London alive with nature, where everyone can experience and enjoy wildlife”.
Michael and Mariel have been very helpful from the time I contacted them on a property I was interested to rent and through the offer process. Mariel did a wonderful video call showing of the house since I was not in London at the time. I felt completely comfortable to sign the lease from the video call. Thank you Mariel!
I cannot recommend this estate agent enough. Michael and Mariel have been very good to us throughout the process and have made sure everything has been as smooth as possible. They have gone above and beyond to ensure everything was dealt with and in a timely manner too. A great experience throughout!
Mariel & Michael have been amazing, very thorough, helpful and a delight to deal with, would highly recommend! Thank you both.
Mariel and Michael have been absolutely great, by far my best ever experience with an estate agent. Properly is honest, upfront and friendly, responding really quickly to any and all queries and with a lovely personal touch.
I was so pleased to be introduced to Properly. Mariel and Michael provide an excellent service that took the stress and hassle out of finding a tenant. They were a pleasure to deal with, efficient and fast. A marked difference from the hidden costs and poor communication often encountered from other high street estate agents. I would thoroughly recommend and happily use again!
We had such an easy and stress free move. Michael helped us with all our questions and was quick to find out any answers to our questions. Would highly recommend.
Mariel helped me sell my apartment in West London. She was always there when I needed her. Her advice was invaluable and made everything a whole lot easier. I can’t recommend her highly enough.
We had the opportunity to interact with Michael of Properly in our search for a new rental flat. Michael was professional and courteous in our dealings with him. He was a pleasure to interact with and he frankly stood out amongst all the agents we interacted with over a search of several weeks.