Still buoyed with the success of our hedgehog house, and having watched hogs pottering around the garden most evenings this summer, I was inspired to try some more “wildlife gardening”. British wildlife needs our help, and even a small action can make a real difference to the attractiveness of your garden to all kinds of creatures. So with this in mind I decided to have a go at an “insect hotel”.
Essentially, an “insect hotel” is just a more friendly name for habitat which attracts and benefits invertebrates and insects. Insects wouldn’t be top of my must-see wildlife list, but they’re crucial to a healthy ecosystem. They aerate & enrich the soil, provide food for countless birds and other animals, and they pollinate flowers and plants. You can’t have the bigger, more exciting creatures, without many more bugs and insects lower down the food chain.
So how do you build an insect hotel in 10 seconds?
You will need…
Wooden pallets,
Bricks,
Tiles,
Wood,
Sticks,
Leaves,
Bamboo,
Anything else you can find!
Then put it all together something like this…
OK, so it might take most people more than 10 seconds, but it’s perfectly achievable in an afternoon.
You might also notice that the ground floor of this hotel is a hedgehog studio apartment. So we’ve also doubled our hedgehog habitats while we’re at it :-)
Over to you
Don’t tell me you can’t do it. Don’t tell me it’s too difficult. Get out and do something for your garden wildlife, and see if you can beat my time!
–
George
