🐝 Planting a Pollinator Patch
You can grow plants that will attract pollinators like bees, butterflies, beneficial insects and birds in any size garden, even as small as 1m².
🌸 Planning for Diversity
The ideal planting plan is to aim for diversity by choosing a range of plants that will bloom for as long as possible, ensuring a plentiful supply of food available from Spring to Winter. A carefully planned patch will provide a natural, sustaining safe environment for visiting wildlife that will support biodiversity.
🐝 Attracting Bees
Bees are an important and precious part of the ecosystem and with the continued loss of habitat and use of pesticides they need the help of urban gardeners in order to thrive. Bees are attracted to blue, purple, yellow and violet fragranced flowers, so sun-loving drought-tolerant plants are ideal.
They particularly love Calendulas, Borage, Vygies, Karee, Fuchsias, Rosemary, Scabiosa, Sunflowers, Cosmos, Cape May, White Alyssum, Agapanthus, Bottlebrush, Buddleja, Bee Balm and Thyme.
A shallow dish of water situated near the plants is very welcome to the bees.
🦋 Welcoming Butterflies
Butterflies are colourful and beautiful but unfortunately also enjoy munching plant leaves. However, they provide food for Frogs, Lizards, Spiders and Praying Mantis — the life circle of nature at its best.
Butterflies are attracted to Plumbago, Verbena, Zinnias, Hibiscus, Impatiens, Marigolds, Lavenders, Daisies, Gazanias, Ribbon flower, Flowering Acacia, Foxgloves and Cape Honeysuckle.
🐦 Inviting Birds
Birds enjoy feeding on berries, seeds, fruit and nectar, so plant a variety of indigenous trees, shrubs and grasses in the garden that will provide food, shelter and nesting sites.
Aloes, Watsonias, Red Hot Pokers, Pincushions and Strelitzias have plentiful supplies of nectar, while Sunflowers, Elderberry, Seeded Grasses, White Stinkwood, Cape Lilac and many other fruit and berry-bearing shrubs will provide berries, fruit and seeds.
Water is essential for birds to drink and bathe, so a birdbath will be greatly appreciated!
Browse Our Online Nursery for Wildlife Attracting plants
Village Gardens is widely recognised as one of Cape Town’s best landscaping and garden design firms. Based in the Southern Suburbs, they pair creative vision with environmental sensitivity—specialising in water-wise, indigenous, edible and wildlife-friendly gardens.