Wildlife gardening

If all our gardens were put together they would make a massive nature reserve, perhaps the most important in the country. Neatly manicured gardens are not the best for wildlife though and with a bit of thought they can be turned into sanctuaries for birds, mammals and invertebrates and lots of other native species.

The key to a good wildlife garden is food, water and shelter - for that is what nearly every living creature needs to survive.


Food: This can mean a whole lot more than putting out a bag of peanuts for the birds, but it's a start. Consider insects that feed on pollen and nectar, animals that eat slugs and worms and birds that feed on berries and fruit in the autumn. You may want to plant a buddleia to attract butterflies or a cotoneaster whose berries are very popular with thrushes.

Water: Birds love a good birdbath, and it will be much better for them if it is filled with rainwater from a water butt rather than chlorinated tap water. Even better - if you have the space - is to dig a pond. Ponds are an important habitat that have been lost from the British countryside and nothing beats waking up in March to finding frogspawn in your own garden pond. If you're lucky you may even be visited by a heron.

Shelter: Animals need shelter to sleep in, to breed in and to hibernate in. Bird boxes and bat boxes will be welcome even in the smallest town garden and you can even get boxes for insects now including bumble bees and the gardeners friends - lacewings and ladybirds - they love gorging on aphids! A compost heap provides excellent shelter for frogs, toads and even hedgehogs. Wood piles and rock piles are perfect hiding places for a variety of invertebrates.

Avoid using chemicals in your garden and it will be a wildlife haven in no time. You can guarantee that next spring when it comes the Big Garden Birdwatch you'll have plenty to make note of.