How a small change in your garden can make a big difference to the future of bees and butterflies

A bee's world is really tiny. It might be that your back garden is all it ever sees. So making small changes to your outside space - like introducing a pot of herbs or wildflowers to a balcony or leaving a section of grass to grow wild - can actually be a really big deal!

Creating a 'pollination station' in your garden is easy, requires little maintenance, and is a real benefit to our wildlife.

Just a few simple steps is all it takes:

• Find a patch you are happy to hand over to nature, anything from a plant pot to a lawn.

• Rake over the soil to clear any grass to give new seeds a fighting chance

• Scatter your selected seeds, you can mix the seeds with sand to help distribute them

• Press down on the seeds to embed them in the ground - just stepping on them will do

• You might want to protect the seeds from birds until the begin to grow

• Sit back and let nature do its thing

Many insects feed on nectar, so flowering plants are vital for their survival.

Butterflies, moths, bees and more are not just a pretty sight - they are essential for life on our planet.

By buzzing about from flower to flower, they pollinate them, allowing new life to thrive.

Unfortunately a lack of flowers, particularly in manmade environments, is contributing to a decline in pollinator numbers.

Some flowers you may want to consider are native wildflowers, happy to thrive with little maintenance they are a colourful sight that can provide a variety of flowers over many months.

Herbs are particularly popular with pollinators, and lavender attracts may types of insects.

Sunflowers are not just a striking addition to your garden, they also are a great food source for bees and butterflies.