Here are five simple ways you can give the wildlife in your garden a helping hand during these colder months:
- Help to keep the birds alive and warm by keeping bird feeders filled with fat-rich food like nuts and suet.
- Plant native shrubs such as hawthorn to provide flowers for pollinators, berries for birds and leaves for caterpillars (ie, tasty food for baby birds)
- Make a bee hotel for solitary bees to find in the sunniest part of the garden. Your DIY version can be made using an old wooden box filled with bamboo canes, hollow plant stems like teasel and sunflower and logs with holes drilled in them.
- Collect rainwater and use it to keep bird baths regularly topped up with drinking and bathing water. Birds regulate the oils in their feathers through bathing, which helps them to control their temperature.
- Avoid turning your compost heap over or disturbing piles of leaves or twigs.They could be sheltering hibernating wildlife like hedgehogs, frogs and even bumble bees.
Talking of hedgehogs, here are Hedgehog Street’s top tip for how to make your garden hedgehog-friendly:
