Workshop: Habitats and Planting for Pollinators
Habitats and Planting for Pollinators with Benny Hawksbee
This workshop is designed to help you boost your wildlife gardening skill set - with a focus on wild pollinators.
We will look at bee identification; show you which species are likely to be around your area; show you where they might be nesting and ways to get closer to them in general. We’ll also look at ecological gardening practices, with a large focus on insects and solitary bees, explaining how to boost habitat, how to maintain that habitat/improve existing and the number of species in your space and give tangible examples of what you can do.
This session is ideal for anyone who cares about pollinators, nature or wildlife gardening in general.
The session will cover:
Basic bee ID. The key bees to keep an eye out for in London (and their associated ecology - where they nest, which flowers they prefer etc.)
Alternative ways of gardening (e.g. pruning method) to boost habitat creation
Ways of making habitat for solitary bees and wasps (including drilling holes in timber for solitary bees)
Maintenance techniques, such as mowing regimes and hedge trimming
Basic kit for spotting insects and giving yourself the best chance of ID
You’ll leave feeling more confident and less anxious about how to separate honeybees from mining bees; how to distinguish hoverflies that pretend to be bees from the real thing, and to know how to create and manage habitat for ground-nesting and aerial-nesting bees.
Meet Benny
Benny is a former marine biologist who has been working as a gardener and wildlife advocate for the last nine years. He is the Head Gardener for Eden Nature Garden in Clapham where he works with the local community to drive interest in plants and wildlife. He also works with John and Fiona Little at their experimental Hilldrop garden in Essex, as well as managing the garden maintenance of spaces around London. He is particularly focused on thoughtful, city gardening with a focus on wild insects and the combination of weeds and more conventional garden plants.
Price: £85
Note for Southwark residents: Looking to book a free place? Unfortunately, our limited quota of free places for the 2024-25 academic year have now been claimed. We will be releasing a refreshed number of free places, along with a new calendar of workshops, in Autumn 2025 so please check back then. Subscribe to our newsletter or follow us on social media, at the bottom of this page, to be notified.
Can’t make this date? We are running this workshop again on the dates below! Click through to find out more.
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