🍀 Clover and Wildflowers: Low-Effort Bee Forage

About this simulation

Clover and wildflowers are the workhorses of low-effort bee forage: they need no bedding-out, no fertiliser and very little attention, yet they can out-produce a fussy flower border for nectar and pollen. This 3D patch shows why the way a lawn or meadow is managed — how short it is cut and when — matters as much as which seeds went into it.

How it works

• Mowing height — white, red and crimson clover only open their flower heads once growth is left a little longer; scalp a lawn every week and the clover never gets to bloom, even though it survives underneath. Wildflower meadows need an even longer rest between cuts to set flower and seed.
• Month — every species has its own bloom window. Clover flowers across a long summer stretch; a wildflower mix staggers poppies, cornflower, ox-eye daisy, knapweed and bird's-foot trefoil through the season.
• Seed mix origin — a native UK wildflower mix attracts a wider range of pollinators (bumblebees, hoverflies, butterflies, solitary bees) than many showy but non-native ornamental cultivars, which are often bred for looks rather than nectar and pollen.
• Forage score and pollinator types update live and drive how many foragers you see visiting the patch.

Controls

• Seed mix — switch between a mown lawn, a clover lawn, a wildflower meadow, or a mixed patch.
• Mowing height — how long the grass is left between cuts (1–12cm).
• Month — move through the UK growing season.
• Seed mix origin — toggle between a native UK wildflower mix and a non-native ornamental mix.
• ▶ Auto season — animates the month slider through a full year. Drag to rotate the view, scroll to zoom.

Did you know?

A single clover-rich lawn left unmown for "No Mow May" can produce many times more flowers — and far more nectar sugar — than the same lawn cut weekly all year, at essentially zero extra cost or effort.