![\"Alison,](\"http:\/\/www.urbanbees.co.uk\/blog_1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/meadowsowing.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nLaying a wildflower meadow turf on a council estate in south London and sowing a strip of wildflowers around it is the beginning of a project Urban Bees and River of Flowers<\/a> are doing to transform pockets of ugly, unloved green spaces into vibrant, colourful bee pastures.<\/p>\n This is our first collaboration to improve bee and other pollinator habitats for food and shelter.<\/p>\n We were asked by Lambeth council to come up with ideas for improving the environment and making it more bee-friendly after calls from residents to brighten up the place.<\/p>\n We will be pioneering the planting of wildflower bee pastures for wild bees, <\/a> honeybees and other pollinators. <\/a> We\u2019re also creating a \u2018fragrant walk\u2019 with flowering herbs that bees love and dotting some ornamental bee favourites around the estate including hebes, Mini<\/a> choisyas and wallflowers.<\/p>\n We\u2019re hoping to get local school children to help us finish this bee and bug hotel.<\/p>\n Resident\u2019s will be out planting in May to create the first bee pastures in raised beds. They’ll also be planting fruit and veg around the estate as part of a local residents’ food growing programme.<\/p>\n Thanks to Crispin and the fathers at Father Nature<\/a> for doing all the hard lifting, 2012<\/a> raking and laying for the wildflower meadow. Mini Backpack<\/a> (Now we have to hope for lots of rain and that people and dogs don’t trample over it.)<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n