Small Garden Changes, Big Wildlife Wins!
This bank holiday weekend, why not make the most of your outdoor space and make your garden more wildlife friendly? Whether you’ve got a sprawling lawn, a cosy courtyard, or a beautiful urban balcony, there are plenty of small, simple changes you can make that could have a big impact for local wildlife.
After all, Britain’s gardens cover an area of around 1.8 million acres; imagine what we could achieve if we all made our gardens just a little bit wilder!
By providing food, water, shelter, and safe spaces, we can turn our outdoor spaces into vital refuges for the birds, bugs, and mammals that share our landscape. Here are some easy ways to get started this weekend.
Let It Grow Wild
If you’re used to a perfectly neat and tidy garden, it might feel a little strange to ease up on the mowing, but leaving a patch of grass to grow long can make a real difference. Plants like daisies, clover, and buttercups may be seen as weeds by some, but they’re valuable food sources for bees, butterflies, and other insects. These, in turn, provide food for birds and small mammals like hedgehogs.
If you’ve only got a small space, why not plant up a few pots or window boxes with native wildflowers? Our native plants are easy to grow, look beautiful, and are excellent nectar sources.
Plant a Tree or Shrub
If you have the space, planting a tree is one of the best things you can do for wildlife. Even a small native tree can support over hundreds of species of insects, while birds feast on seeds and shelter in branches. If your garden’s more compact, shrubs like dogwood provide food, nectar, and shelter for insects and birds alike.
Add a Water Feature
Water is essential for wildlife, especially in hot or dry weather. It doesn’t have to be a grand pond, a simple shallow dish, bird bath, or an old washing up bowl sunk into the ground can provide a welcome watering hole for birds, mammals, and insects. Just remember to keep it clean, top it up regularly, and create an easy way out for small creatures with a ramp or stones.
Create Cosy Wildlife Homes
Piles of leaves, twigs, and grass cuttings make great shelters for insects, frogs, and hedgehogs. Instead of bagging up fallen leaves, tuck them into a quiet corner where they can decompose naturally, you’ll create valuable habitat and, eventually, some rich natural fertiliser too.
Ready-made shelters are also a brilliant way to welcome wildlife into your garden. Bird boxes, bug hotels, hedgehog houses, bee hotels, and even log piles or leaf heaps can provide much-needed shelter and nesting spaces. If you’re feeling creative this weekend, have a go at making your own, you’d be amazed what you can create with next to nothing!
Serve a Wildlife-Friendly Meal
Another great way to attract wildlife is by offering a little extra food. A bird feeder filled with nuts and seeds will bring in sparrows, finches, and robins. You could also leave mealworms out for badgers, fruit for foxes, or wet cat food for visiting hedgehogs. Just remember, while extra food is a welcome treat, ideally wildlife should rely mainly on natural sources. So, don’t feed too often and always keep feeding areas clean.
Improve Wildlife Access
Modern gardens are often surrounded by walls and fences, cutting off wildlife from safe routes and resources. A small 13cm by 13cm gap in your fence is enough for a hedgehog to squeeze through and explore safely. Simple actions like this help create wildlife corridors, connecting gardens, parks, and wild spaces.
So, what are you waiting for, go wild this weekend and invite nature into your gardens!
Rivers are at the heart of our local landscapes. Whether you’re casting a line, exploring a riverside trail, or simply basking in the beauty of nature, you can help protect these special places now, and for generations to come.
By becoming a Ribble Rivers Trust supporter for just £3 a month, you’ll be funding real, on-the-ground action.
Ready to make a difference? Learn more here: ribbletrust.org.uk/become-a-supporter
