Insects play an important role in our ecosystem. They pollinate plants and eat pests. That's why it makes sense to integrate an insect hotel in the garden.
If you want to turn your garden into a natural paradise, you should offer the small insects a place to feel good. For example, you can build an insect hotel out of cans. But you can also make an insect hotel from a tree trunk. It is particularly suitable as a place of well-being for the little animals. When building the hotel, you should make sure to provide a home for as many insects as possible. It is therefore important to work with different materials.
Late summer is the best time of year to build a hotel, because this is when the insects are looking for suitable quarters to overwinter.
You need this for the insect hotel
Tree Trunk:
If you want to build an insect hotel from a tree trunk, it is of course necessary to find the right trunk. The tree trunk should be at least 30 to 40 centimeters high to provide enough space for many insects. It would of course be best if you can get or buy already hollow logs. If you do not have this possibility, it is not a problem to hollow out the tree trunks yourself. It works wonderfully with a chisel and knocker. However, this work requires a good deal of strength.
But not every tree trunk is suitable as an insect hotel. You should only use hardwoods. These offer the advantage that they remain in their original form and do not harm the insects. If you use coniferous wood, it can happen that this resin later. This would seriously harm the insects as they would get stuck and die.
Filling:
A tree trunk usually offers enough space to set up different rooms in the hotel. This ensures that different insects can move into the hotel. The following filling materials are suitable for the insect hotel in the tree trunk:
- Straw
- Reed
- Bamboo
- thick and thin branches
- Plant woods of raspberry, blueberry, etc.
- Moss
- Rainpipe with wood shavings
It is important that you careMake sure you only use untreated wood. This occurs in nature and the insects know the wood. Treated wood may harm insect he alth.
Insect Hotel Building Instructions
❶ Paint tree trunk:
Once you have gathered all the materials you need, you can start building the insect hotel. You can pre-paint the tree trunk with paint. Make sure this is waterproof. The color red has been shown to attract insects. This color is therefore particularly suitable for decorating the tree trunk.
❷ Fill tree trunk:
Now you can start filling the tree trunk. The more different the filling material, the better. Each species of insect likes different materials. In order to be able to orientate yourself a little better, you will find below a list of suitable rooms for different insects:
- Hardwood with drill holes for hole bees
- Rainpipe with wood wool for ear slurpers
- narrow cracks for lacewings
- pithy branches for wild bees
- Reeds for Hoverflies
You should make sure that you fill the entire tree trunk well and attach the materials very close to each other. If there are any small holes, you can stuff them with moss. There are generally no limits to your imagination when designing the insect hotel. Once you have processed all the materials, the insect hotel is complete and ready to move in.
❸ Select the correct location:
In order to be able to offer the insects a good life, the location of the hotel plays a major role. In natural gardens, the small insects will of course find everything they need. But the animals can also have a great life in “normal” gardens. You just have to make sure that you have planted enough flowers and perennials in the garden. These are an important source of food for the insects and ensure their survival. If the insects find enough food sources near the hotel, they will move into the insect hotel very quickly. It is best to face the hotel entrance to the south because the insects like it warm and sunny.
Tips to make the insects feel good
Many insects will feel at home in their new insect hotel. They will move in very soon and spend the rest of their lives in your garden. However, you should still follow a few tips to offer the insects a nice life.
❍ Tip 1 - Do not use poison:
You should not use spray poison in the garden and avoid chemical agentscompletely renounce. This not only applies to the construction of the hotel, but also to the maintenance of the garden at home. Chemical poisons kill insects.
❍ Tip 2 - Let wild herbs grow:
You shouldn't banish all wild herbs from the garden. Insects love wild plants such as nettles. It therefore makes sense to let the wild growth run free at least in one place in the garden. You can even kill two birds with one stone. Finally, you can make nettle manure yourself from nettles and use it as fertilizer.
❍ Tip 3 - Green the garden:
There should be many different flowers and plants in the garden. This not only applies to the meadow, but also to the house wall or the wall of the garden shed. You can green them with ivy or other climbing plants. You could also leave a strip of grass that you never mow. Here the insects find a natural environment.
❍ Tip 4 - Decoration and living space in the garden:
You could also create a small pond. But a heap of stones or a heap of dead wood can also be a great eye-catcher in the garden. Not only do these materials look good, they also provide a great feel-good space for insects.