Helping your garden wildlife
Post categories: In depth
| 18:10 UK time, Monday, 25 May 2009
We've got some suggestions for easy ways to make your garden a haven for wildlife - and yourself.
But this is also your opporunity to add your tips. What works in your garden? What doesn't? We'd love to hear your experiences and dilemmas, so please share your questions and answers below.
There are 15 million gardens in the UK covering an area bigger than all our nature reserves put together. Your garden can be a fantastic place for wildlife - your own personal place for getting close to nature and an oasis for the birds and animals who share it with you.
There are hundreds of websites out there with loads of information about how to make your garden more friendly for wildlife. Some of the best include , the and the and the Â鶹Éç's very own Breathing Places.
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Don't think you need to spend a fortune on flashy bird feeders or bug accommodation or indeed spend hours building things, wildlife gardening can be as simple as leaving areas a bit untidy, allowing a patch of lawn to grow longer or leaving seed heads on plants. Perfect for the lazy amongst us.
Those with more energy, some DIY leanings and a bit of time and ingenuity can knock up , and . It needn't take a lot of time or space, just doing one thing can make a real difference for wildlife in your garden.
Â鶹Éç Breathing Places is a great place to start. It's split into quick (make a woodpile, plant daisies for hoverflies etc), simple (collect rain water, make a bee home etc) and adventurous (make a bog garden or a meadow etc) things to try. So however much time or energy you have there'll be something there for you.
The Wildlife Trusts also have a section on which contains guides on and how to .
But enough of what we think, over to you:
- Share your wildlife gardening pictures on the
- Share your tips, experiences and dilemmas below. Is your garden already a haven for wildlife? We'd all love to know about it!
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