Build your own bug hotel
Bug houses come in all shapes and sizes
Bug houses are a popular feature in school and community gardens. There are a simple and cheap way of creating a wildlife friendly environment. Look at some of the bug houses from across our network! If you feel inspired by these creative wildlife havens, take a look below at our guide to making your own.
Materials
A good bug house combines a range of textures, surfaces, sizes and spaces for the little critters! It is a great way to recycle things that you have lying around!
Start by collecting a selection of the following:
- Sticks and twigs
- Scrap wood
- Wooden pallets
- Old tiles
- Stones and slate
- Moss
- Old broken pots
- Dried plants and bark
- Pine cones
- Bricks
- Dried leaves
Creating your structure
It is important to create layers that you can then fill with your collected materials.
You can do this by layering wooden pallets one on top of another or the same effect can be created by joining boxes together or piling bricks and slabs like the image shown.
Filling the gaps
You can then fill all of the gaps that your layering has created with the materials you've collected.
Broken pots can create little hidey holes while moss and dried organic matter can create a comfy bed. Piled twigs and sticks will provide all manner of tiny nooks and crannies!
You're done!
Your bug house is now finished. All you need to do now is sit back and let the minibeasts move in ... and enjoy their new home.
Tiny alternatives
If you don't have the space for a full bug house, here is a fun little idea you can try.
This tiny bug house was created by our friend Alison Pike at Tiny Trowels. She made them as a wildlife activity for her gardening class, so it's the perfect project for small hands!
Simply collect dried organic martials from around your garden and fit them neatly into an empty, clean tin can. This can then be hung in the garden ready for creepy crawlies to move in!
If this blog has inspired you to become part of the Cultivation Street campaign, register for free now to take your community gardening project to the next level.
For your chance to win big in the annual Cultivation Street competition, which has a staggering £20,000 to giveaway to school and community gardening projects that are changing the lives of people across the UK.