HELP WILDLIFE AT HOME

Here are nine biodiversity-boosting projects you can bring to life in your own garden. Small changes can make a big difference to our local wildlife.

Close-up of purple lavender flowers with bees and a butterfly among them.

Plant Bee-Friendly Blooms, herbs and shrubs

You don’t need a large space to impress the pollinators! See the Wildlife Garden Awards for a list of nectar and pollen rich flowers that can be grown in pots as well as flowerbeds

Wildlife Garden Awards

A black beetle is resting on a wooden log with various cut pieces of wood stacked behind it, some with holes and surrounded by green leaves.

Build a log pile

These provide homes and food for many bugs and beetles. This insect larder will then attract birds hedgehogs and frogs to your outdoor space.

Further advice

A tranquil backyard at night featuring a moonlit sky, a house in the background, and patio furniture including two white chairs and a table. The garden has a lawn with garden lights and a wooden fence surrounding the area.

Turn off or switch to low-level lighting

Turn off or switch to low-level lighting at night to help nocturnal species

Help bats, moths and other pollinators by switching off unnecessary lighting at night and keeping it to a low level where possible.

Further advice

A sunlit garden or meadow with white flowers growing near the base of a tree.

Let your lawn grow wild

Give the mower (and you!) a rest by letting an area of grass grow longer and wilder. This will allow a variety of large and small flowers and grasses to appear, providing food and hiding places for insects and other creatures.

Further advice

A close-up of a frog partially submerged in water, with a lily pad nearby.

Install a wildlife pond

An essential part of every wildlife garden. Even a part-buried bucket can bring surprising visitors.

Further advice

A green board marked ‘Helping Hedgehogs’ in white text, featuring a small entrance hole at the bottom. It sits among pebbles and low plants, creating a passageway for hedgehogs to move between fenced gardens.

Cut a hedgehog highway

Hedgehogs go on long walkabouts each night, but enclosed gardens limit their access to food and water. Help them out by creating access in or under your fence, and encourage your neighbours to do the same.

Further advice

Plant native shrubs and trees

Whether you have space for just one small shrub, a hedge or even an orchard, aim to plant UK-grown native species as they are better adapted to our environment and will provide food and shelter for insects, birds and other animals

Further advice

Create a compost heap

Natural compost is not only good for the garden, it is fantastic for wildlife. Many tiny creatures and fungi are involved in the process of the decay and the heap will attract a variety of worms and insects, which in turn brings birds and hedgehogs to feed on them.

Further advice

Don’t be so tidy!

Having an untouched area, at least a metre squared, somewhere it will be undisturbed by humans in your garden, is great for wildlife. Just leave it for nature to takeover.

Leaving tree stumps, seedheads, fallen fruit, and also piles of leaves in the autumn, can provide natural food and shelter for a variety of birds, insects and small mammals.