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/ Free for Southwark residents
Free places are available for Southwark residents aged 19+. Each resident can claim 1 place per academic year (Oct 23- Jul 24). To check whether you are eligible, please click here.
To claim your free place, click ‘Book Here’ below, and enter code ‘SOUTHWARK25’ under ‘Redeem Coupon’.
You will then be charged a £10 deposit in order to claim your place, this deposit will be refunded to you after you attend the workshop.
Please note that you will be required to fill in a Southwark Council form, including some personal information, in order to confirm your place on a workshop. Your place will not be confirmed until this has been completed in full.
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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