The second in a series of blogs written by Buglife Development Officer, Beth Barber, celebrating the seasonality of our gardens.
• See previous post: Spring is sprung
It’s hard to imagine as I look out of my window today but, the vagaries of a British Summer aside, Midsummer is almost upon us. The Summer Solstice has long been associated with light and fertility, and represents the peak of the growing season. So June is a busy month for our garden pollinators, as they take advantage of abundant blooms, longer days and at least occasional bouts of sunshine.
We can prolong this boom time for pollinating insects by deadheading spent blooms. This encourages plants to produce more flowers (and therefore more nectar), although as autumn approaches, it is important to balance ongoing flowering with allowing some seed to set. Seeds and seedheads will provide food and shelter for wildlife over winter and give rise to next year’s volunteer seedlings, i.e. plants that the gardener doesn’t need to purchase or propagate! Early summer is also the time to cut back early-flowering perennials to encourage a second flush of flowers at the end of the season. Finally, now that the risk of late frosts has passed, it’s the right moment to plant out half-hardy and tender annuals. Many of these non-native species will continue flowering into early autumn.
An unmown lawn, provides food and cooler shelter for pollinators and other invertebrates (taken mid-June) © Beccy Mersh
Keeping ponds and birdbaths topped up, supports bees and bugs, as well as birds and amphibians © John (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
Deadheading spent flowers, like these geums, encourages a second bloom © Beccy Mersh
Spring 2026 has provided yet more evidence of the ways in which our climate is changing. Annual mean temperatures are rising and we are experiencing earlier and more intense heat spikes. How can we help invertebrates and other wildlife in the face of our changing garden landscapes? One way is to keep ponds and bird baths topped up, not just for amphibians and our feathered friends but also for bees and other bugs.
We can also extend no-mow May into June and beyond. Longer lawns retain moisture and have an important cooling effect as temperatures rise. They provide shelter for a range of invertebrate species. If full-on hay meadow is a step too far for your lawn, you can still help wildlife by leaving smaller patches of long grass, or raising the blade setting on your mower and mowing less frequently to allow lawn weeds like daisies, dandelions and clover to flower. Estimates suggest that mowing once a month can increase nectar production tenfold, which seems a win-win result for less work.
We should also water less frequently to encourage deeper rooting. Even in a heatwave, it is more effective to water thoroughly once or twice a week than to apply a quick sprinkle every day. Deeper roots produce more resilient plants that are better able to withstand the onslaught of summer storms and pests, giving predator populations time to expand before aphids become a major problem.
If you are still waiting for that natural balance between pest and predator species to kick in, take a moment to admire the tenacity and incredible adaptations of the aphid life cycle. Most aphids are wingless, but when the population has expanded to a point where the host plant can no longer support their numbers, they produce a winged generation that flies off to colonise new plants. Likewise, most aphids are born female and already pregnant. They are unusual in the invertebrate world because they are viviparous, i.e. give birth to live young rather than laying eggs, but if they pick up on environmental cues that a hard winter is coming, this female-dominated society will give birth to a generation of males. This enables them to mate and produce eggs which are better able to withstand harsh winter conditions before hatching in the spring. That knowledge might not make aphid damage to my precious garden plants any easier to bear, but I can’t help but be in awe of any society so in tune with its environment.
One final task for Summer is to turn the compost heap, which will be cooking nicely in the heat. This will provide an influx of oxygen, reducing temperatures and creating ideal conditions for a new generation of detritivores to get to work breaking down some of the woodier material. If some of the compost is ready i.e. black, crumbly and sweet-smelling with no identifiable plant material remaining, add it to your veg beds as a mulch where it will provide a whole new habitat for invertebrates to colonise. Always apply a mulch after rain to help your soil retain moisture and, if you don’t have a compost heap, an inorganic mulch such as gravel will also reduce moisture loss and provide an excellent habitat for species such as spiders.
Finally, don’t forget to take some time to sit and enjoy your wildlife-rich garden. If you look and listen, you’ll be amazed how many different bugs are enjoying it too.
Main image credit: “Garden” by Tejvan Pettinger, CC BY 2.0