The Bug Buffet is a project I designed to bring biodiversity to a previously barren space, and to help people experience the joy of bugs! Follow my journey through my GCA Rising Stars project as we make a buffet of treats for all bugs to enjoy.
Take a look and discover all the species of flying insects and bugs that help pollinate across the UK! Learn and find out more about each of the UK’s native wildlife with our Spotters Guide available online now!
Let me introduce myself…
Hi, I’m Pip an Outdoor Plants specialist at Ruxley Manor and I am passionate about both wildlife and the environment so when it came to thinking of a project which effectively hit both of the title topics I knew that I would involve wildlife.
This year I was nominated into the GCA Rising Star programme for 2022/2023 and for this year the topic was Environmental and Sustainability, so let me introduce my project, the Bug Buffet.
I wanted to bring attention to the importance of bug hotels and pollinators on the environment, because without them our outdoor and garden spaces would look very different. With Summer/Autumn being a prime time for pollinators I believed my idea around pollinators was perfect, given that our pollinators disappear during the Spring/Winter period.
The Garden Centre Association’s Rising Stars is a gardening-based programme lead by Gordon Emslie. Candidates selected for the programme undertake workshops on topics such as merchandising, concluding with attendance and presentation at the GCA’s annual conference in January 2023. The programme is run to highlight and develop the talented individuals in the garden center industry and provide them with training and experiences that will help further their careers. By managing their own project, candidates are able to explore project management, get to push themselves outside of their comfort zones and use their new set of skills to enhance the work they do for their garden centres.
My inspiration for the Bug Buffet came from seeing a sad bee one day in Outdoor Plants. As a child, February felt the coldest. Now, it’s hard to tell. Climate change has brought with it “False Springs”; patches of mildness and warmth in late winter, sharply terminated by a hard frost. During these periods, hibernating bees wake from their ground burrows and stumble around the car park, expecting to see spring’s bounty of blossom and nectar. Instead, there is nothing. We place the bees we find on anything we can find in bloom, knowing it won’t be enough and this bee might not make it to the summer.
A decline in pollinator population spells bad news for our food harvests, our gardens and our garden centres. It also makes the world a less fascinating place to live.
In my eyes, the way to combat this tragedy is twofold. First, we must make provisions for our insect friends, so we do not lose them to climate change, which is of our (humans’) own making. Secondly, we must learn to cherish our bugs: study them, learn to look forward to seeing them and think about how we can make their lives easier.
To achieve this, I have invented the Bug Buffet: a new way of thinking about how we can help our bugs. Through the creation of bug-focused planted arrangements, we can provide shelter for bugs, and a central hub for rescued insects found around the plant area. By signposting customers to our wildflower seed mixes, we can boost sales of a product that can increase biodiversity in British gardens. By linking our planters to a QR code about the project, we can inspire others to learn and recreate a Bug Buffet at home. Finally, by teaming up with Graces’ Nursery next-door, we can teach the younger generation about the importance and fun of bugs, and their role in the ecosystem.
60% of the UK’s flying insects have disappeared since 2004.
I decided to start my project with a Bug Hunt with the children in Grace’s Day Nursery at Ruxley. The idea behind this is to teach the next generation the importance of pollinators and bug hotels on the environment and to do this in a way which is sustainable.
I hoped to have a great impact on the children so that in future they may not be scared or worried about bugs or pollinators but helpful and caring towards our wildlife. Furthermore, I do further hope that this extends past bugs and pollinators but all things living and green.
Design Challenges
To design spaces for our bugs to dine, we needed to think about logistics. We faced some pretty big obstacles:
Our carpark is mainly concrete, and the areas I had initially thought to plant turn out to be compacted rubble and gravel. Even with layers of compost on top, those areas would not provide the drainage needed for a good root system for my plants.
Resolution
We decided that raised planters were our best option. The plan was to have these filled with soil, with an open bottom for drainage.
Pacing Headers on the planters, giving us the opportunity to link the planters in with more project information available online and provide access to the spotters guides.
The ground is far too hard in our car park for bugs to burrow in and doesn’t have enough texture to provide shaded areas for bugs to hide from the midday sun. We knew that we will need to add height to the project and areas for bugs to nest in.
Resolution
Creating bug hotels for both flying insects and bugs to rest in on hot, sunny days.
Tall perennials that create shade and also add height to the overall look of the planters
Layers of compost, organic material and inorganic material to make a good burrowing space for any future bug residents.
Climate change has caused bugs and plants to come out at much less predictable times in the year. This means we would need to provide bugs with access to nectar and food throughout the season.
Resolution
Growing my own pollinator-friendly plants from seed to make clumps of native wildflowers, the perfect habitat for bugs.
Successional sowing for late-summer and autumn nectar to extend the food season.
If there’s too much information on my signs, people are going to be hanging round in the carpark which could be dangerous.
Resolution
Skinnier planters, not wide enough to be hit by parked cars.
No small information on the planter headers – a nice big QR code for easy scanning as you walk into the store, which will link to our launch page with more information about the project.
Extra planters by the entrance and exit of the shop for close-up viewing.
Sourcing Materials
It was important to us to use as much recycled material as possible. First, we looked around the old greenhouses for any old materials we could recycle. We didn’t find any wood we could repurpose for the planters, but we did find some display stands we could use later in the project for displaying our great seed mixes to help people recreate a Bug Buffet at home.
My carpenter co-worker suggested using old scaffolding boards as a way to give an old material a new life. Great idea! The boards were a bit dirty, had bits of paint on them and a few chips, but were otherwise in good condition. We also found some trellis that could fit in the middle of one of them, so I altered the dimensions on the planters, and we started work!
The Build
While I initially worried about the build, it was finished in under a week. We lifted the planters into place with a pallet truck. We filled the bottoms of them with old plastic plant trays that were destined for the bin, to create a small shelf before the ground, and then layered them up with organic material and compost to create our planting area.
Ruxley Manor Garden Centre
Maidstone Road
Sidcup
Kent
DA14 5BQ
