The West of England Combined Authority awarded St Werburghs City Farm funding to create an exciting Pollinator Trail. This interactive trail aims to educate visitors about the vital role of pollinators while enhancing local biodiversity and habitats. By improving and adapting areas around the farm to make them more pollinator friendly we are not just helping one group of animals but strengthening entire ecosystems and their ability to withstand and adapt to the challenges posed by climate change and the ecological emergency.
Our farm volunteers and regular adult groups have played a huge role in the creation of our fabulous areas created so far and the new trail, future plans and evolving habitats will also provide ample future opportunity for community involvement and youth groups to be involved.
Why Pollinators are Important
Pollination is vital in the process of flowering plants. Pollen must be transferred from one plant to another of the same kind to allow it to produce fruit and reproduce. A wide variety of insects play an important role in pollination. These pollinators are critical for the reproduction of over 75% of flowering plants. This includes fruits, vegetables and crops that make up 1 in 3 out of every bites of food that we eat. Without pollinators, natural plant communities and agricultural systems would decline.
Explore our Pollinator Trail!
Our mascots Mothew Hummingbird Hawk-moth and Betty Rose Chafer Beetle will guide you as you wander around the farm. Discover themed areas that highlight different aspects of pollinator life and conservation.
The Kitchen Garden Visit our farm and learn about the vital role pollinators play in producing the food we eat. Relax amidst the fragrant herb containers and test your senses by identifying plants through smell alone. 8/10 wild plants in Britain depend on insects for pollination. The bad news is that over 250 of our insect pollinators are in danger of extinction.
Bug City Enter an insect metropolis and get up close with our resident insects and birds. Our bug city includes willow walk throughs, balancing beams, floral diners and a bug swimming pool nearby. Uncover information about insect habitats along the way. A wide variety of insects play a part in pollination, even ones with bad reputations such as wasps and houseflies.
Wildlife Pond Observe aquatic insects and amphibians that support the pollinator ecosystem at our tranquil waterside spot. Test your knowledge by trying to identify different visiting insects and animals. Ponds are diversity hotspots and provide lifecycle support for many creatures. Shallow edges provide drinking water for birds, mammals and insects.
The Bee Garden Our transformed old Bee Garden will host a vibrant wildflower meadow and tranquil picnic area. Take a seat and keep your eyes peeled for butterflies, bees and other busy pollinators doing their thing. A variety of fruit trees have also been planted in the top paddock. Integrating grazing areas with wildflowers and trees will help improve soil quality, improve the quality of grazing for livestock and help increase biodiversity. It also looks great!
Insect Mission Explore our farm on a self-guided pollinator spotting mission. We have activity sheets for you to find and check off all 10 of the beautifully painted pollinators we've hidden around.
Come and explore the trail and discover more about the amazing world of pollinators right here at St Werburghs City Farm.🐝
Gardens are now a lifeline in urban areas. By creating somewhere for insects to feed, drink and rest we can create pollinator friendly corridors throughout our city. The areas we have been created on the farm also provide invaluable accessible opportunities for those who might otherwise lack access to nature. The WECA initiative fits perfectly into our farm values: Strengthening connections between land, animals and people and Responding to emerging environmental and social needs within our community.
Children love planting and building projects. Why not build a bug hotel, plant a window box or create a container pond at home. https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/actions/how-build-bug-mansion
Native Wildflowers
Native plants are used to our climate and soil types so thrive happily when planted in UK parks and gardens. We are however, finding that some plants are flowering earlier due to climate change, which has a negative impact on the lifecycle of many pollinators.
On our Colour Wheel (located in the Bee Garden) you can find out which colour native plants bloom in which season. Each band of colour represents flowers with petals of that colour. The length of the band in the wheel shows when in the year you are likely to see flowers of each colour in bloom. The blue band is present under spring, summer and autumn, meaning you can see these flowers during these seasons. Black area show when you are unlikely to see these flower colours.
Note: This relates to native plants only and does not include introduced species. Sources RHS Gardening, The Wildlife Trust, Gardeners World, The Woodland Trust and NativeFlower.co.uk
NativeFlower is a good resource if you want to find out about native wildflowers. Note that some favourite flowers such as snowdrops and crocuses along with common weeds like dandelions are non-native, yet they have become key parts of our British landscape.
The Bumblebee Conservation also has a useful gardening guide if you want to create a bee friendly garden.
Here's what you can do to help!
- Plant a variety of pollinator friendly plants that bloom throughout the year.
- Avoid using pesticides and choose organic gardening practices.
- Leave some areas un-maintained to allow wildflowers to establish or animals to hide.
- Provide fresh water sources for pollinators and birds to drink from.
- Make nesting boxes.
- Allow dead trees or branches to remain as nesting sites.
- Plant herbs, vegetables and fruit to give pollinators an all round food sources as well as your self.
- Build bug hotels so that insects have a safe place to hide.
- Limit light pollution to avoid disrupting insect lifecycles and nighttime pollination.
- Raise awareness by educating friends and family about why pollinators are so important for a healthy ecosystem.
Learn more about the work that we do down at St Werburghs City Farm.
Find out more about the West of England Combined Authority community pollinator fund.
