My Planting Scheme
Since moving to a new garden in 2009 I have been developing two pollinator borders. One is in a very dry and sunny situation with very well drained soil. This is mainly a raised bed. On the other side of the garden in a slightly damper soil is a border of tall perennials, different in character to the other border.
This is not a big garden (50ft x 50ft) and like most keen plants-people I pack a lot of plants in a small space. Everything intermingles and they help to support each other.
I try out various different plants to see how they get on in my conditions and whether they attract pollinating insects. They are either grown from seed, or purchased on-line from specialist hardy plant nurseries that do mail-order.
September 2010 
July 2011
It is possible to predict with a reasonable degree of accuracy what plants will attract what kinds of insects, and, indeed, what plants will attract no pollinating insects at all. I'm afraid that there are rather a lot of plants in the latter category that are sold in garden centres and the nursery trade.
This fact has led to my suggestion that we gardeners should re-think what we mean by
'good horticulture', and move towards concentrating on pollinator-friendly
ornamental flowers. My approach to achieving this is set out in the short article on my
re-defining 'native' planting page.
There is still a long way to go before we fully understand the relationship between pollinating insects and garden flowers. There is scope for much more observation by gardeners everywhere. It is great fun and very engrossing watching the interaction of insects and flowers in your pollinator borders, and there will always be surprises.
I also grow a number of flowers that seem to be of no value to insects at all, just for their beauty. Why not? White lilies (Lilium candidum) and Leopard Lilies (L. pardalinum) are examples. I simply aim that the vast majority of flowers in the garden are of the pollinator-friendly kind.
I call my borders 'pollinator borders' rather than 'nectar borders'. A pollinator border is designed to provide pollen as well as nectar. A nectar border is fine for butterflies and moths, as they do not use pollen. On the other hand bees, and some hoverflies and beetles do eat pollen. Pollen is especially important to bees (of all kinds) as they are the only group of insects that gather and store pollen as food for their young.
Planting List
Here is a list of the core planting my borders at present. I have left out various plants I am still experimenting with. This list will evolve over time, as will the garden. In the long version of the list have put in quite a lot of commentary about each plant and I have marked my choice of the best.
The two versions of the list are saved as a pdf. If you would like them in another format please email me. Please respect the fact that these are copyright.
DOWNLOAD PLANTING LIST IN PDF FORMAT:
- SHORT VERSION (Plant names only, 5 pages)
- LONG VERSION (Includes lots of notes, 18 pages, in landscape format)
I also give talks to groups by the way - email me if you would llike me to come to talk to you.
Top 
© Marc Carlton 2011. You may print this page and the planting lists for personal use or for non-commercial, not-for-profit educational purposes. Other reproduction, re-publication, or copying is prohibited without permission.
Contact