Pollinators rarely find everything they need in one place. They move between small patches of forage — a farmland strip, a hedge in blossom, a garden lawn left to flower — treating each as a "stepping stone" along a journey. This 3D cross-section lines up a crop field, a wildflower field margin, a hedgerow or woodland edge, and a garden lawn side by side, so you can see how the width and management of each patch decides whether that journey is possible at all.
UK agri-environment schemes pay farmers to leave field margins and hedgerows specifically because a scattering of small, well-connected patches supports far more pollinator species than the same total area planted in one big block — proximity and continuity matter as much as quantity.
A 3D cross-section lines up a crop field, a wildflower field margin, a hedgerow or woodland edge, and a garden lawn, so you can see how margin width, hedge presence and mowing regime decide whether pollinators can move the whole length of the corridor.
Each habitat zone blooms on its own seasonal schedule and only holds forage when it is wide enough, present, or left uncut for long enough. A live connectivity score combines all three and drives how many pollinators shuttle the full corridor versus staying stranded in isolated patches.
Set the garden's mowing regime, drag the field-margin-width and month sliders, and toggle the hedgerow on or off. Watch the connectivity score and bloom count update, then follow bees and hoverflies as they hop between whichever patches are actually flowering.
UK agri-environment schemes pay farmers to keep field margins and hedgerows specifically because scattered, well-connected patches support more pollinator species than the same area planted as one large block.