The 15th – 21st September 2014 is Wild About Gardens Week, which will focus on the plight of the UK’s 1,500 species of pollinating insects. The aim of the week is to encourage people to do more to support our vital pollinators over the winter months.

The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) and The Wildlife Trusts (TWT) are urging gardeners to create winter habitats for these insects through:

• Making an insect hotel.
• Creating log piles – Half bury some logs, leave dead wood where it falls, and keep tree stumps in place.
• Cutting back on the cutting back – instead of cutting flower borders back, neat and tidy, in late autumn, leave the dead stems all winter until early spring.
• Letting your lawn grow – Leave a long patch over the winter, before cutting it back, resuming mowing in early spring and it’ll help many creatures hibernate.
• Ensuring your garden contains a wide range of plants, trees and shrubs that produce pollen and nectar resources throughout the year.
• Thinking responsibly about using pesticides.

More details about the week, and the ‘build a bug hotel’ competition and how to create a bug hotel can be found atwww.wildaboutgardensweek.org.uk.