Encouraging Wildlife into your Garden

If you enjoy seeing wildlife in your garden, then you can take steps to encourage it to return and thrive.

Provide water

Most wildlife requires clean water for drinking, bathing and reproducing. Suitable sources of water can include natural sources like ponds, lakes, and streams, or man-made sources like birdbaths, fountains or water features.

Supply food

Planting native shrubs, flowers and trees is a good way to give your local wildlife the nutrients they need, as native plants and flowers will provide suitable seeds, berries, pollen and other food sources for insects and birds. Adding a bird feeder stocked with bird seed can be a great way of encouraging wild birds into the garden, and you can add a bird house, ladybird house or even a bat house to encourage long term residents to move in and bring life to your garden.

Create cover

Wild animals are not usually comfortable around humans, as they often see as us as a potential predator threat, so having plenty of places to hide will make them feel safer. It’s also somewhere animals will use to hide from predators and inclement weather. Thickets, hedgerows and other dense foliage all make excellent hiding places for garden visitors.

Make a place to raise young

Most wildlife needs a sheltered place to raise their young. This could be inside a tree, under a bush or shrub or under a rock. Bees and butterflies use small holes, like the inside of dead bamboo stalks or cracks in trunks. Why not provide a birdhouse or even a beehive too? This will keep your garden alive with activity.

Make it natural

Allowing your garden to thrive naturally while avoiding chemical pesticides and too much interference will make a big difference. It doesn’t have to be overgrown and messy to be successful, but too much interference in the natural processes will put off some creatures. Gardens and Homes Direct have many of the gardening tools you’ll need for garden maintenance.