As of: March 24, 2024, 2:00 p.m
By: Miriam Kohr
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Spring awakening in the garden of Max Raith, 2nd board member of the Allershausen Horticultural and State Care Association.
He knows where the bees are.
© private
Max Raith from the Allershausen Horticultural and Regional Conservation Association gives tips for an insect-friendly garden in the first part of the FT spring series.
Allershausen
– Spring awakens the gardens in the district.
Some bushes are already blooming and the first insects are looking for nectar.
They don't like rock gardens and English lawns at all.
But how can I design my garden so that bees, bumblebees, butterflies and the like feel comfortable?
After all, “Save the bees!” is still a motto that needs to be implemented.
Max Raith, 2nd board member of the Allershausen Association for Horticulture and Land Conservation, gives tips on how to ensure that there are lots of insects in the garden.
The 67-year-old and his wife have an oasis of their own where it hums and hums.
Mr. Raith, have you already prepared your garden for spring?
Some of my wife and I's garden has already woken up from hibernation.
We have already cut back the perennials that are now slowly sprouting, such as the elf flower.
Some perennials are coming earlier this year than usual; they usually don't start until the end of March or beginning of April.
Even some fruit trees are already blooming.
By the way, faded perennials should be left standing in autumn, as some insects find shelter in the dry stems.
And I already saw a blue-black carpenter bee in my garden this year.
NABU has named this bee Wild Bee of the Year 2024.
I was very happy to be able to observe such a specimen.
Is there any further work that should begin in the spring?
You can trim and plant bushes or plant new perennials.
Important: You are no longer allowed to cut down trees or reset hedges, as nature conservation prohibits this.
Birds are now starting to prepare their nesting places.
Only light topiary cuts are possible.
In order for flowers and perennials such as roses to bloom beautifully in summer, fertilization should begin now.
What do you generally recommend for a beautiful natural garden that supports insects?
Of course, you should not use pesticides or herbicides and ideally only fertilize with organic fertilizer.
Also important are wild corners where little is done, i.e. no spraying, fertilization and only mowing once or twice a year.
On the typical English lawn found in most gardens, a maximum of ten to twelve species of plants can be found per square meter.
In a poor grassland, on the other hand, 120 species can grow in the same area.
That doesn't mean that you have to do without a mown green lawn where children can play football.
It's all about balance.
The rule of thumb is: with every native plant you have in your garden or replanted, you support ten species of insects.
Tips for insect-friendly trees and flowers
Can you recommend local plants that are particularly good for insects?
The cornelian cherry is an early bloomer that is already blooming yellow.
The cornelian cherry supports all insects that rely on pollen and nectar very early on.
And birds can feed on the fruits that come in summer and autumn.
By the way, you can also make a delicious jam from it.
I can also recommend blackthorn, hazel and catkins, all three of which also start to bloom early, as native trees.
Later in the year, insects feast on elderberries or buckthorn, for example.
The latter blooms for a very long time, from the end of May to the end of August, and is the brimstone butterfly's only nesting plant because the caterpillars feed exclusively on this shrub.
Not everyone has room for a tree. Do you also have tips for insect-friendly flowers?
Meadow sage, common chicory, meadow button, corn poppy, cornflower and evening primrose are just a few examples of great flowers that insects love.
The latter only opens its flowers at dusk and is therefore primarily visited by night insects.
When it comes to wildflower mixtures, you should make sure that only native plants are included.
There are one or two deceptive packages.
Are there plants that appear to be good for insects but are not?
Basically almost all double flowers, i.e. flowers and bushes with flowers where insects cannot get to the nectar and pollen or where no pollen or nectar is present due to breeding.
For example, many types of roses have double flowers, but wild rose types are more suitable for bees and butterflies.
So you shouldn't be fooled by the appearance.
Not all colorful and beautiful flowers or shrubs are automatically good for insects.
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Do you perhaps have a very specific example of this?
Forsythia is a good example.
This is the shrub that is currently blooming yellow in many gardens.
But from an ecological point of view, forsythia is not a good choice; it provides neither nectar nor pollen, but falsely attracts bees due to its color.
The evergreen cherry laurel or thuja, both of which are often used as hedges, are completely useless for insects.
Instead of forsythia (l.), bee and insect lovers should plant cornelian cherries (r.) in their garden.
It also blooms beautifully yellow in spring, but has pollen and nectar.
© private/mik
Are there any good alternatives for this?
Instead of forsythia, it is better to plant a cornelian cherry, which also blooms yellow in spring.
And for hedges, use hornbeam, privet or Pfaffenhütchen as an alternative.
There is a web moth that only needs the pepper cap as a host plant to feed its caterpillars.
However, garden owners with children must be careful with privet and Pfaffenhütchen because the fruits are poisonous.
Gardeners can choose from 9,000 native plant species
Nevertheless, many of the negative examples have prevailed in the gardens. Why?
Because plants from abroad or bred are more exotic and therefore more desirable for many.
Garden centers and tree nurseries often buy into the hype.
So my advice: Don't follow every trend and focus on local plants.
I once read that there are over 9,000 native plant species.
There should be something for everyone.
How else can you make your garden insect-friendly?
A bird bath can also help insects quench their thirst.
Wasps and butterflies need to drink just as much as birds.
It is only important that the drinking trough is not too steep, but rather flat and not slippery.
After all, we don’t want to trap the insects.
So-called insect hotels, which are actually nesting places, can also be useful.
However, I would choose models directly from nature conservation associations and not industrially manufactured ones that can be bought everywhere.
You can also provide piles of brushwood or hedges of dead wood in which many insects can nest.
What does the perfect garden look like for you?
I can say that my wife and I are constantly working on the perfect garden (laughs).
For me, a garden is something that develops and not something that you constantly and everywhere intervene in.
Gardening also has a lot to do with waiting.
That's why, for me, a beautiful garden has soft and calm shapes and no cut edges.
With the club for a herb hike
Good to know: In cooperation with the Allershausener Vhs, the Allershausen Horticulture and Land Conservation Association is offering a herb hike on Saturday, April 27th, from 10 a.m., where there are still places available.
The speaker is Christine Nowakowitsch.
Cost for non-members: ten euros.
Registration via the Vhs, for members registration in writing and bindingly by email: mail@gartenbauverein-allershausen.de at a reduced price (six euros).
You can find even more current news from the Freising district at Merkur.de/Freising.