Discover how to create homes and support wildlife as RSPB supporters share their top tips and experiences.
Recently we asked readers of our Nature on Your Doorstep newsletter to tell us their top tips and ideas for helping nature. A huge thank you to everyone who got in touch! We are delighted and inspired by your many wonderful ideas for wildlife gardening and how to encourage nature. In this feature, we look at your top tips for creating habitats and supporting wildlife.
Adding water to an outdoor space, whether a bird bath, drinking bowl or a pond is felt to be one of the best things you can do.
The best thing I have found to help wildlife is always have fresh water. Have water butts wherever rain comes off roofs. Change all bird baths daily to ensure water is clean. Also dig shallow ponds where you can, ensuring that there are easy access points for all animals.
– Lawrence Matthews
If you have an old sink, dig a hole and sink it into your garden to form a pond. Put gravel in the bottom, stones to allow Frogs to get in and out and for birds to perch on, and some native pond plants. Then you have the perfect pond to bring wildlife into your garden.
– Peter Saunders
Put a small bowl with water and pebbles in it in your garden so that bees can safely drink.
– Denise Small
My top tip is to provide water, even just a large plant pot saucer, and the birds, insects, and Hedgehogs will all benefit.
– Mark Richmond
My tip is to make a nature pond. It doesn’t have to be big. We attracted wildlife just in a recycled bowl once. This year we have made this one and it’s already attracting birds for a bath.
– Laura Walker
My best tip would be to purchase a half barrel or anything that’s waterproof and fill it up with water, little oxygenating plants and a little solar fountain. It’s wonderful. It encourages birds and all kinds of wildlife, I’m just waiting for my first Frog.
– Tracy Newbury
There are some great suggestions for creating habitats, including how to create a place for overwintering newts with some clever placing of stones.
One very good thing to do in any garden is to leave piles of leaves and twigs tucked away and undisturbed. They can then become home to a very wide variety of creatures, from beetles to Hedgehogs. Such a simple way to happily share your garden. Enjoy!
– Jill Cooper
We put logs and piles of sticks under bushes and around the edges of the garden to provide mini 'refuges' for wildlife.
– Lesley Maitra
For our final piece of inspiration, we’re looking to reader Kirsty Brister, whose advice is to ‘vary the habitat’.
A little wood pile next to the pond and sunken pots create great hiding spots. Make a bug hotel using reclaimed wood and bits from the garden. Old hanging baskets can be stuffed with little plant pots and moss for nest material for birds and to encourage bugs. Stack rocks and fill crevices with succulents for a mini rockery.
Plant a tree… plant another tree! An old gardening fork and fallen branch make a great pond perch for dragonflies. Chuck wildflower seeds in bare patches, leave the grass uncut for as long as possible to allow tadpoles shelter when they emerge.
– Kirsty Brister
