Building a Bug House for the Garden

The most important visitors to gardens big and small

Building a Garden Bug House
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All bugs are just about the most important visitors to our Gardens; they help in many ways from assisting us with pollination to providing a source of food for our Birds and other creatures.

To attract various a great project is to build a Bug House. The good news is the only cost involved should be for a few screws and nails plus you'll be surprised at how many people will find it quite an arty feature to your Garden !!

Mine is built from very old Pallet Wood, old enough for any preservatives to have worn off (otherwise use only untreated timber). For the purpose of this exercise mine is 24" high x 18" wide
(610mm x 460mm) and divided into appropriate sections for each 'attraction'.

I've used the following - old logs, Pine Cones, Bamboo Canes, old bits of pots / roof tiles, Straw, rolled corrugated cardboard, tree bark.
To hold it all in place I covered it all with Chicken Wire.

To attract Ladybirds holes should be drilled into the logs. The Bamboo Canes will hopefully bring either a Solitary or Leafcutter Bee who will lay their egg inside then cover the entrance with leaf and other material ready for the 'baby' to hatch the following Spring.

Everything else will see an influx of Woodlice, Lacewings, Flies, Spiders and other creepy crawlies to use either as a home or for Winter hibernation.

I have to say I totally enjoyed making mine, it took all day finding things, but well worth it.

Any ideal project to share with your Children! Best place for them is up against or just inside Hedgerow - this helps to keep it dry and adds a bit more peace and quiet.

More ideas for Bug Houses

There are so many way's to attract Bugs to your Garden, almost anything can be used, even a Log just left alone will rot and encourage Woodlice, creepy crawlies, maybe a shelter for Lizards and Snakes. The list is almost endless..

Below are two other things I've done. On the left is a sawn off bit of downpipe filled with Bamboo Shoots and to the right, rather than storing away some wire hanging basketrs for Winter I've kept them in a sheltered position and simply filled them up with Pine Cones.

Bug Hotel Pipe and Bamboo Pine Cones in Hanging Basket for Bug Hotel
Frugal and Free but best of all, attracting important Wildlife


Garden Wildlife
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‘If we and the rest of the back-boned animals were to disappear overnight, the rest of the world would get on pretty well. But if the invertebrates were to disappear, the world's ecosystems would collapse.’ Sir David Attenborough - See more at: http://www.buglife.org.uk
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A leafcutter Bee taking a leaf almost the length of itself into a hole

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Watch the visitors arrive on a daily basis..

Garden Spider
Fly on bug house
Bug House in hedgerow
Embed your Bug House in a sheltered hedgerow or screw on to a Fence. Eye level height is good.

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