Successful planting

Before embarking on a planting programme on your farm for any purpose, including bees, you need to be aware of a number of factors.

Factors to consider are:

• Site and climate
  
• Space available for planting
  
• Time, money and labour available
  
• Best time of year for planting
  
• Weediness of candidate plants
  
• Toxicity of candidate plants to animals
  
• Pests, such as goats, opossums and hares
  
• How the plants fit in with existing land use

Key tasks for planting are:

• Preparing a planting plan
  
• Sourcing plants
  
• Preparing the site
  
• • Weed control
    
  • Soil cultivation
    
• Installing fencing/tree guards
  
• Controlling pests
  
• Irrigating as needed
  
• Planning long term maintenance