Intensive agriculture and a decrease in the number of insect-pollinated crops have led to a drastic decline in bumblebee numbers over the past 70 years, they said.

With fields turning into poor homes for bumblebees, gardens are an increasingly important habitat for them.

"Without wild bees our gardens would be sterile places but we do not always give enough thought to how we manage our gardens to encourage these beneficial insects," said Fiona Reynolds, director-general of the National Trust.
Every garden counts in the wildlife stakes, whether large or small, urban or rural. With over 15 million gardens across the country, gardeners collectively can make a huge difference," she said.

English Nature and the National Trust say many gardeners mistakenly think all flowers are good for bees, when in actual fact, many modern hybrids are sterile and do not carry pollen to attract the bees.

Bumblebees are also wrongly thought by some to be aggressive, usually because they are confused with wasps and honey bees.

The two bodies will be promoting ways to encourage the bumblebee and other wildlife at the Chelsea Flower Show later in May.