Giving wildlife somewhere dry to shelter is a wonderful addition to any wildlife-friendly garden. Nature loves an untidy corner with lots of nooks and crannies to climb into. This super simple tutorial will show you how to make one for free.
What you will need:
Hollow canes we used old raspberry canes, bamboo works too.
String
Tin can empty and clean
Secateurs
Method
- Cut the canes to a similar length.
- Tie them in a bundle with a piece of cut string.
- Push them inside your clean empty tin.
- Place somewhere sheltered from storms and out of direct sunlight.
- You have made an insect hotel, bug palace or wildlife inn!
Make a wildlife inn! Somewhere safe and cosy for insects, like ladybirds, to hunker down into and spend the cold winter months. All you need is a pair of secateurs, clean, empty tins, string and an area that will stay dry and safe in storms.
We used some old bamboo and raspberry-cane cuttings; both will become hollow inside when they dry out completely. Cut your canes to a similar length, tie in bundles with string, and push them into a tin or other container that will provide a roof from the elements.
Why not collect up nature treasures, like pine cones and seed heads and add these too! Leaving some tins empty may encourage insects like moths and butterflies to pupate inside them.
Giving wildlife somewhere dry to shelter is a wonderful addition to a wildlife garden. Nature loves an untidy corner with lots of nooks and crannies to climb into. How about a pile of leaf litter in an old wine box or collected stems in an unwanted book-case?
Share your insect hotels with us on social media – we’d love to see them. @seed_ball
Flower-friendly action!
Why not scatter some beetle-friendly wildflower seed balls at the base of your insect hotel too!
The ideal mix to attract ladybirds and pollinating beetles – who are super important to our garden ecosystems. Did you know that many beetles are important pollinators who pollinated the first flowers 140 million years ago at the time of dinosaurs?
About a quarter of the UK’s beetles are pollinators, feeding on nectar and then transporting pollen on their legs. They love open faced flowers and those with multiple flower heads – making our mix of flowers perfect for beetles 🙂 Our beetle mix includes common knapweed, cornflower, cow parsley, field scabious, foxglove, great burnet and yarrow.
Each ball contains approximately 30 seeds per ball, and each tin will provide coverage for 1 square metre in a garden, or 3-5 medium sized pots. Best scattered in Spring or Autumn.
