Virtually no flies on your car windscreen, sterile fields with no hedgerows and a multi-million pound insecticide industry not much heaven for insects. The hope for bugs, flies and little creatures may rest in your garden.

We hear about the need to protect bees due to there essential role in pollination. The contribution plus the complexity and interdependence of all creatures is not fully understood. We should all take care not to cause damage with our ecological footprint.

Options For Helping Nature

• Gardens need insects and bugs so why not treat them to a snug insect house.
• You can build a multipurpose house from wood, stones and old pipes similar to the one above. Fill gaps with twigs, straw and rotting wood which will provide some food. The insects will make a home in the cracks and crevices that provide winter shelter.
• A pile of old logs in a quite part of the garden can provide a haven for fungus and beetles.
• Try growing butterfly friendly nettles and other plants that can act as breeding grounds.
• Do not be too keen to clean and tidy up – tolerate a bit of leaf litter.
• The charity Buglife has a guide that shows which plants help which insects and how to grow a mini meadow.
• Insects around the world are facing an apocalypse as a result of toxins we humans put into the environmentso think about the effect you are going to have and spare a thought for bugs.

Bee nesting boxes will cater for bees and ladybirds.
Place on a south facing wall for optimum sunlight to help bees and for ladybirds place the nester in a sheltered area near tree branches and vegetation such as nettles.