Hozelock’s bee friendly Plant A Pot campaign is set to take you by ‘swarm’!
With more than 18,000 pledges to plant bee-friendly plants in 2018 Hozelock’s Plant A Pot campaign has been a huge success so far and wants to help keep gardens buzzing this year!
Recognizing that having no bees would mean virtually no flowers, no gardens and very little food, Hozelock’s mission is to help to save Britain’s bees and to make it easy for you to play your part. By planting a container with bee-friendly plants, bulbs or seeds, and keeping it watered and healthy throughout the foraging season, you can have a huge impact on the availability of bee food throughout the year. The plight of bees is something that anyone with a garden, patio or even a window box can identify with and the Plant A Pot campaign is a rewarding and affordable way to help.
What’s more, from March 20, 2019 if you visit www.plantapot.info and pledge to #plantapot you’ll be in with a chance of winning over £5,000 worth of great gardening and bee-related prizes in Hozelock’s free prize draw – including a cottage holiday in Devon. Plus, there are dozens of £10 Horticultural Trade Association National Garden Gift Vouchers (which can be spent at most garden centers) to be won every month!
Driven by the knowledge that bees are disappearing at an alarming rate and a third of all the food we eat depends on them – Hozelock’s campaign is a call to action for gardeners nationwide to play their part.
With everything from automatic watering systems and a wide range of hoses to the Green Power Thermal Weeder and the Pure Range – which make natural gardening easy – Hozelock has everything you’ll need to look after your garden and help nurture the bees and other wildlife who visit it.
Hozelock’s top 5 watering tips for your plant pots:
1. Start off right. Water your plants even before you pot them to ensure they get off to a good start. Make sure your pots can drain easily – a hole in the base of the pot is essential!
2. Water consistently and carefully. Avoid a ‘feast or famine’ approach to watering which can affect plants’ health and result in less pollen and poor nectar quality for bees.
3. Set up an automatic watering system. An area planted with lavender and other bee-friendly plants which enjoy a dry spell, can be watered sparingly. Automatic watering systems make it really easy to tailor the right amount of water to each zone of your garden and allow you to go away on worry-free holidays!
4. Water accurately – at the base and roots of a plant. Overhead sprays can result in water being wasted as it drips off leaves beyond the roots. Good spray guns allow you to direct water more accurately.
5. Be prepared. Keep a neat hose handy so you can water as soon as you see the pot drying out.
Hozelock’s top 3 tips for planting for bees:
1. Plant a diverse garden. The more diverse your choice, the more wildlife you’re likely to attract. If you have a wildlife pond be sure to add bee friendly aquatic plants too.
2. Check the structure. Choose plants with flower structures that allow their nectar to be easily accessed by bees including Foxgloves, Lavender and Comfrey – your local garden-center can help you discover many more.
3. Plant your five a day. From a pot of strawberries, peas and beans to rosemary or thyme – there are loads of fruit, veg and herbs that are pollinated by bees so you can provide a nutritious treat for yourself whilst helping bees.
Source: Hozelock
