Making your outdoor space wildlife-friendly

Create a log pile – this will soon become a haven for all kinds of creepy crawlies, amphibians and small mammals. Providing a home/feeding place for small creatures also helps other animals further up the food chain too.

Make a wildlife refuge – undisturbed areas with places to hide will be hugely beneficial to small creatures such as insects, amphibians and small mammals – even a pile of stones or branches will make a difference.

Install a bug hotel – this doesn’t have to be anything fancy – a pile of stones or pinecones, bricks with holes in them, small branches and the hollow woody stems of plants like bamboo will provide numerous places for creatures to hide.

Create a dead hedge – a great way to use up branches, leaves and plant prunings and recycle them back into the ground – but not before they have provided an incredible habitat for hundreds of different species! Shelter for hedgehogs, food for millipedes, deadwood for fungi, a hibernation station for frogs, a hunting perch for dragonflies and nesting space for birds – the list is endless. Dead hedges are a great way of dividing up gardens into sections or hiding away things such as bins or “wild weed” areas too.

Put up a bird box – buy a bird box or make your own and wait patiently for visitors. Check online advice to ensure your bird box is in the right position and that it is from a reputable supplier to keep the chicks safe.

Make a compost heap – the very best way to recycle old plants from your garden, as well as kitchen scraps like carrot peelings and eggshells. You will also have a fresh supply of nutrient-rich compost to reuse in your garden.

Open up a hedgehog highway – cutting a small entrance hole into a fence or back gate will allow these incredible creatures to enter your garden and forage for food (including slugs and snails). 

Reduce your use of pesticides. Remember that a “pest” for a human isn’t a pest to other animals. Without slugs and snails, creatures such as hedgehogs, song thrushes and toads would go very hungry. Consider using natural alternatives to chemicals – here are some ideas to get you started:

• Place copper rings around plants that slugs target.
• Net vulnerable crops like carrots and cabbages.
• Create a homemade garlic spray to deter certain pests.
• Grow strong-smelling plants such as onions, garlic and marigolds to repel pests including aphids and flea beetle.
• Grow "trap crops" like nasturtiums. They attract certain pests away from vulnerable crops and can also deter others with their pungent smell. Plus they’re edible for humans too and taste great in a salad!
• Encourage beneficial “pest predators” like hedgehogs, blue tits, frogs and ladybirds to your garden, to munch on the pests you’d rather not have. By following the advice in this blog, you will be creating a wildlife haven where these amazing creatures will help you keep on top of pest control.

Create a log pile – this will become a haven for all kinds of creepy crawlies, which means that birds will also hopefully visit to munch at the insect buffet.

Install a bug hotel – this doesn’t have to be anything fancy – a pile of stones or pinecones, bricks with holes in them, small branches and the hollow woody stems of plants like bamboo will provide numerous places for creatures to hide.

Put up a bird box – buy a bird box or make your own and wait patiently for visitors! Check online advice to ensure you have your bird box in the right position and that it is from a reputable supplier to keep the chicks safe.

Sow wildflower seeds – attract all kinds of insects to your space by providing pollen and nectar-rich flowers. If you can find species that flower at different points through the year, this will help the early pollinators as they come out of hibernation too! Herbs such as oregano and thyme, or flowers like nasturtiums and edible chrysanthemums will also feed you too so you will get double impact from the same plant.

Put up a bird feeder – sunflower hearts are a great no-mess option for year-round feeding, but other seeds will be great for visiting birds too. Keep your feeder clean by disinfecting it once a week with animal-friendly disinfectant to make sure diseases don’t spread through local bird populations.

Provide clean water – a cool drink in summer, or a fresh supply of water when ponds are frozen over in winter – water is needed by creatures great and small. A shallow tray works well. Change the water every couple of days to make sure it’s fresh, and add a few stones to help any insects (such as bees) escape if they fall in.