Bee Friendly Lyme Regis

OUR POLLINATORS ARE UNDER THREAT

Turn Lyme Green is launching a new project – Bee Friendly Lyme Regis.  Bees and other pollinators are essential to the beauty, biodiversity and food production of our town. From private gardens and allotments to planters and hanging baskets around town, we can all help create a thriving network of pollinator-friendly spaces.

We are tackling important environmental challenges including declining biodiversity in gardens and landscapes and the rapid loss of habitat for our pollinators. One third of our food is pollinated by bees and it is clear that their numbers  and that of other insect pollinators are in decline.   Bee Friendly Lyme Regis will  help our pollinators thrive by raising awareness of their importance.

WORKING WITH THE COMMUNITY
We will work with the community providing information about what can be done to help pollinators flourish - schools, local organisations, churches, businesses and local residents.  This project will highlight solitary bees.  There are some 240 species of these bees in the UK, and all are efficient pollinators. By comparison, there is the familiar honey bee and 24 species of bumble bee.    With advice from The Dorset Bee and Bee Friendly Bridport, we will produce ‘homes’ for solitary bees – bee hotels - encouraging households and the Council to put these in appropriate spaces.   We will also provide information on planting to encourage growth of flowers, trees and shrubs especially attractive to bees.

KEEP IN TOUCH WITH US
Please let us know if you would like more detailed information about planting, making or choosing effective ‘hotels’ or providing support in any way for our bees. Offers of help with this project are very welcome and any ideas you have to share with us. enquiries@turnlymegreen.co.uk

PLANS FOR THE COMING YEAR
By raising awareness, creating habitats and collaborating with our community over the coming year, we hope to receive the Bee Friendly Award for Lyme Regis in 2027.  This award is given once a year by the Bee Friendly Trust  (www.beefriendlytrust.org) and would be an award the town can be proud of. 

Pollinators transfer pollen between flowers, helping plants produce seeds and fruit. Without them, many wildflowers and garden plants - flowers and vegetables - would disappear. A third of our food relies on pollinators.

There are more than 270 species of bees in the UK. We are all familiar with the honey bee and bumblebee. These are ‘eusocial’ bees living with others in nests. But the vast majority of bees - some 240 species - are solitary bees. Their ‘family’ consists of a single pair. Other well known common pollinators include hoverflies and butterflies and moths.

Keep Our Town Blooming

EVERY POT COUNTS
You don’t need a large garden. A single window box with lavender, chives and thyme can feed dozens of bees - or choose a selection of wild flowers. Hanging baskets and any size pots are perfect.

Bees are particularly attracted to blue, purple and yellow flowers. Remember to use peat free compost and avoid insecticides. If every household and business in Lyme Regis planted just a few bee-friendly plants, together we would create a connected habitat across the town.

—WHAT YOU CAN DO IN YOUR OWN GARDEN

Think about seasonal planting to provide important food sources. Consider flowers, shrubs and trees. Cloose organic seeds to grow flowers and vegetables. Here are some ideas for planting throughout the year.


The Royal Horticultural Society (rhs.org.uk) is a great source .. search for ‘plants for pollinators’.

IF YOU ARE A RESIDENT….

  • Plant a variety of nectar-rich flowers.

  • Let some plants flower before mowing or incorporate a wildflower ‘meadow’. Remember ‘No Mow May’.

  • Keep seed heads on plants over the winter.

  • Put a bee hotel in your garden for solitary bees so they can feast on the necter and pollen planted your garden.

IF YOU ARE A BUSINESS…

  • Plant herbs in outdoor seating areas.

  • Add flowers shrubs near entrances and plant up hanging baskets.

  • Reduce mowing of grassy areas to encourage Dandelion, Buttercup and Lesser Celandine.

  • Display your commitment to biodiversity and support for pollinators.

—PLANTING FOR EACH SEASON

EARLY FLOWERING/SPRING‍ ‍
Crocus, Snowdrops, Goat Willow, Hellebore, Jasmine, fruit blossom.

SUMMER
Clover, Borage, Sunflower, Foxglove. Single flowering Dahlia, Cerithe(Honeywort), Cosmos and Scabious
IDEAL CHOICES FOR HANGING BASKETS
Use single flowered varieties. Fuschia, Bidens, Diascia, Bacopas, |Nasturtium, Sweet Alyssum, Pansies, Calibrachoa (Million Bells), Nemesia and trailing Verbena and Lobelia

— PLANTING FOR EACH SEASON

AUTUMN
Heather, Michaelmas Daisies, Sedum, Bramble, Nettle

WINTER
Mahonia. Leave Ivy to flower.