Why did my bee garden die last year?

[Soubriquet]

Last year in late spring, I planted some bee friendly plants (lavender and other sorts) and added a bee bar (basically a bowl with water in and stones so they don’t drown) to encourage the bees.
I watered it and made sure I took care of it yet by the end of summer everything had died. Even the lavender which I thought was quite a hardy plant.

I’m going to try and plant a new garden this year but could anyone tell me some tips on how to keep things alive and advise as to why they might have died?

Avoid French lavender (the type with ‘ears’). It is very tricksy and rarely lasts more than a year in my experience. English lavender tends to do better.

Thanks. Will note all this down

You can change the soil by feeding it and adjusting the PH but it takes a long time. Can you plant loads of stuff in pots and put them on top of the soil? Then you can buy different composts depending on what each plant needs.

I can give it a go!

Also think about how you could plant things to extend the season for bees, there are usually plenty of pollen bearing plants available to them in the summer, but they can struggle to find early and late pollen plants. Crocus ,snowdrops and other early flowering bulbs help in spring, and in the autumn sedum and ivy are good pollen plants.

Pulmonaria is a must for bumble bees, it flowers from February and is a lifesaver for early Queens.

Shameless place marking