Hi ! I’ll soon move in a new home in an urban area (in Europe) which will have a balcony. This is not as great as a garden, but I was wondering if there were ways to make it friendly for small wildlife, such as native insects for example ?
I guess planting native plants in pots would be a good start, but I was wondering if there was some other things possible to do ? I’d love to hear what people here have tried and how well it did (or didn’t !) work !
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How about bird feeders?
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Bird feeders are a good idea.
Invasive parakeets are a growing problem in European cities, so make sure you get feeders that discourage them.
I have mixed feelings about nest boxes on balconies on the other hand; I have one and more often than not I get hornet nests in them instead of birds (although I also had some success with Parus major).
I think it would be best to install nest boxes in places where you won’t risk scaring away the birds or getting stung by insects.
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Well, for attracting arthropods, I have found a successful strategy to be
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Fill it with lots of plants, ideally at least partially native flowers (perennial or annual self-seeding)
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Have plenty of nooks and crannies that serve as hideaways and nesting spots
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Be negligent about keeping it neat and tidy
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Wait for the insects to show up and make themselves at home
There are a couple important limiting factors: how much you are willing to water and how much weight can reasonably be supported by your balcony (large pots full of wet soil are heavy). Also whether you wish to leave space to move about on said balcony yourself.
If the location is fairly shady, you may have to be creative about finding plants that will grow well.
And finally, a caution: this can easily get just a little bit out of hand…
2017:
2021:
(300 species and counting in the past 3 years, mostly arthropods under 1 cm. The pumpkins have been abandoned as being too thirsty.)
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Even more plants! Pots on the balcony rail, climbers on the wall, pots on the floor, hanging baskets!
But actually - look very carefully at your plants on a regular basis. If they are all local, you will hopefully see that they are very busy with lots of little insects that we might not notice besides the bees : )
A little dish of water with pebbles in would possibly also go a long way if you are south-facing.
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Remember to check the balcony and land below! The neighbors may not appreciate drips, drops, seeds…first check is always with the lease agreement.
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Best advice!
Also consider neglecting small holes you may find in your building’s exterior (maybe pre-bore some holes into wood containers or even a piece of wood) to encourage any native bees that look for such places for their homes. I do not know if those are where you will be, Europe being a large place, but we have numerous types of native bees here, some solitary and some social, that make their homes in holes.
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Yes, there are a number of cavity nesting bees and some solitary wasps in Europe who are quite happy to nest in “bee hotels” (or other available tube-shaped spaces: ends of trellises, Ivar shelves, wind chimes, etc,) in urban spaces. With a couple of them (Osmia cornuta/Osmia bicornis), the problem is actually more likely to be that they will occupy all of the available tubes and not leave any for the specialist bees that may fly later in the season.
Insect hotels are rather trendy right now, but a lot of what is available for purchase is not well suited to the needs of the bees they are intended for. What you want to look for:
- avoid ones with compartments with pinecones, snail shells, wood shavings, etc., as these are useless for the cavity nesters and not proven worthwhile for other insects. (There are a few bees that nest in snail shells but a pile of them behind a metal screen is not what they are looking for.)
- the tubes should be cleanly cut, with no hard splinters that might damage the wings of the occupants; if they are made of bamboo, the pith on the inside should be removed (a bottle brush is good for this)
- look for ones that include holes of different sizes; generally anything more than about 8mm diameter is not useful. In particular, try to make sure it has some holes of 2-4 mm diameter for the smaller bees/wasps (e.g. Chelostoma, Heriades, some Osmias)
- a screen to prevent bird attacks may or may not be helpful; a better strategy is to make sure the tubes are secured against the back of the container, so that they don’t come out easily. Some bees are also reluctant to use tubes that are drafty at the back
- if you wish, you can tie some pith-filled stems (e.g. Rubus or Sambucus or bamboo) singly in a vertical orientation along the railing, as there are a handful of species who prefer this to the multi-unit horizontal housing options
- I also have some slightly rotten pieces of wood and a large shelf fungi which has been happily used by the Xylocopas, as well as other boring insects
- DO NOT take nesting tubes inside over the winter; while bee “hotels” may also be used by male bees for sleeping, they are primarily nesting spots, which means that they are occupied by hibernating bees who will get confused and emerge too soon if they are in a warm indoor space
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Oh wow, so much useful advice !! Thank you everyone !!
I must admit that I’m a bit wary of hornets (and maybe my neighbourg are too)… But the plants/ water and holes diverses advices are amazing ! I’ll try those and see how it goes.
For birds feeder, I’m a bit skeptic tho, I read somewhere there were bad if I’m not sure if this is true ?
What did this source say in particular about feeders? As long as you check in with neighbors and keep the feeders clean to prevent pathogens, you should be fine.
What specifically is the problem?
Well it’s not the feeders that are a problem, but the LPO (French association for Protection of Birds) discourage feeding the birds outside the cold season (link in French).
I guess having the feeders in winter wouldn’t hurt tho. Birds are really outside of my expertise honestly ! (I should learn more about them someday)
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My balcony feeder isn’t even used in the summer, birds get plenty of food in the fields and woods. I don’t bother filling it anymore in warm seasons.
In winter however it attracts Parus major, Sitta europaea, Erithacus rubecula and Phoenicurus phoenicurus, as well as the hungry Pica Pica and Streptopelia decaocto who just empty it in one visit. This can be avoided by using a specialized feeder for small birds, which I don’t have.
I normally offer a feeder only during the cold season. On my balcony, there is morning sun in the winter when the trees are bare, but most of the year it is considered a shade garden. I need to factor that in when choosing what plants to have, choosing only shade-tolerant kinds. But this is the cold season and I have the safflower seed feeder up (because the representative at Wild Birds Unlimited told me the squirrels don’t like safflower).
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