March 27, 2015

Like us, wildlife needs places to eat, drink, sleep and live as families. It’s getting harder for our wildlife to find places to do these things but It’s really easy for anyone to lend a helping hand and get a little creative.

There are so many simple and easy ways to turn your garden into a nature hub teeming with wildlife so we’ve shared few here (and it doesn’t have to cost a penny!);

1. Build a Bug Hotel

The Bug Hotel provides a hideout for insects as well as a range of other important species such as hedgehogs and frogs. Recycle materials you have handy, you can be fancy and build a multi-story 5* luxury hotel or keep is simple and build a wood pile, bugs will love them both.

Find a spot the bugs will love, some shade, some moisture within clear sight so you can see when the new neighbours move in.

bug_house

Stack different levels using bricks, pallets, and wooden boards as the support and frame for your hotel. Leave lots of nooks and crannies and make sure it’s a safe and stable home for your wildlife; you don’t need to build a skyscraper!

Then fill the spaces with other natural materials you can find such as dry leaves, logs, twigs, pinecones, sand and hay.

All good homes need a roof, so keep your bug hotel dry with sheet board, roof tiles or polythene if you have some. It’ll be on MTV cribs in no time.

2. Connect to the nature network

Your garden is part of a larger network that wildlife needs to survive but animals need corridors to move between gardens, parks and outdoors spaces. Build corridors using hedges and growing plant life around the borders of your garden and link gardens by creating spaces between fences and under gates for hedgehogs to get through.

Photo – arkinspace.com | Nigel Jones

3. Lay on a bird buffet

Lay on a year round feast for your birds. Birds need help especially during the winter months when food is scarce but they need food all year round. You can buy birdfeeders or make your own recycling materials as simple as a drinks bottle, string and pencils. Of course your birds will want a drink; a shallow dish of water will do nicely.

Just make sure you keep feeders and water clean to stop birds getting ill. Mix up the buffet menu, you don’t want the same old customers coming back for the free food. Use a selection of food such as mixed seeds, porridge oats, apples, suet pellets and sunflower seeds.