Gardens linked together across a street or neighbourhood also create a wider range of wildlife habitats than any single plot could offer on its own, supporting local wildlife from insects and birds to hedgehogs and bats.
In this guide, we look at practical ways to keep your garden welcoming for wildlife, without giving up on good garden design.
Why a Wildlife-Friendly Garden Matters – Guide by Landscaping Experts
Gardens across the UK add up to a huge amount of green space.
That makes every wildlife-friendly garden important.
Many wildlife species are under pressure from habitat loss, and a garden designed with biodiversity in mind gives insects, birds and small mammals somewhere safe to feed, shelter and breed.
Choosing native species over non-native plants where you can also helps, since local insects and birds have evolved alongside native plants and often get far more value from them.
Build a Pond to Support Local Wildlife
A pond does more for garden wildlife than almost anything else you can add.
Even a small pond in a half barrel or old sink gives frogs, toads and newts somewhere to breed.
It provides a source of water for birds and mammals throughout the year.
Frogs and toads will often travel a surprising distance to find a garden pond, especially if there is long grass or planting nearby where they can shelter and hibernate over winter.
A pond with gently sloping sides, or a slope built from stones and pebbles, also means anything that falls in can easily climb back out.
Start Composting to Boost Garden Biodiversity
A compost heap is a habitat in its own right.
Left undisturbed, compost attracts beetles, worms and other insects, which in turn provide food for birds, hedgehogs and frogs.
Composting your garden and kitchen waste also cuts down on what goes to landfill.
It’s a useful habit for both your garden and the wider environment.
Piling up spare logs or branches near the compost heap, rather than disposing of them, creates an extra log pile habitat for beetles and other insects to hide in and break down over time.
Plant Shrubs, Hedges and Wildflowers for Insects and Pollinators
Planting is where you can make the biggest difference to the range of insects and pollinators visiting your garden.
A mix of shrubs and a native hedge gives bees, moths and butterflies a source of food and nectar through spring and summer. All while providing shelter and nesting sites for garden birds.
If you have the space, even a small patch of wildflowers will attract far more pollinators than a mown lawn ever could.
The right flowers will attract a wide range of wildlife.
Single Flowers
Single, open flowers tend to be far more useful to bees and other pollinators than heavily bred double varieties, since pollen and nectar are easier to reach.
Fruit-Bearing Trees
Trees and shrubs that produce berries are especially valuable food plants going into autumn and winter.
Rowan, crab apple, blackthorn and other fruit trees all provide berries that garden birds and small mammals rely on once other food sources start to disappear.
Ivy
Ivy flowers late in the year when little else is available, and its berries feed birds right through winter.
Nettles
Nettles are food plants for the caterpillars of several butterflies and moths, so leaving a patch to grow can support far more butterflies and other insects.
Nettles are easy to tuck into a corner of even a small garden without impacting on the garden’s appearance too greatly, especially when tucked behind some edging.
Leave Weeds and Log Piles for Garden Habitats
Not every corner of a garden needs to be neat.
A patch of weeds or wild plants left to grow through summer offers food and shelter, and requires almost no maintenance to upkeep!
A log pile tucked into a shady corner is a simple garden habitat to create.
It provides shelter for beetles, woodlice and other insects, and gives hedgehogs, frogs and toads somewhere quiet to hibernate over winter.
Native species of weed such as dandelion and clover are also an early source of nectar for bees emerging in spring, well before most garden flowers are in bloom.
Feed the Birds: How to Provide Food for Garden Birds
Putting up a bird feeder is one of the simplest ways to provide food for garden birds all year round.
It is especially useful in late winter when natural food sources are scarce.
A mix of seed, suet and fresh water will bring in a wider variety of garden birds than seed alone.
Nesting Boxes
Many garden birds struggle to find safe nesting sites in modern gardens, particularly where old trees and hedges have been removed.
A nest box fixed to a wall or tree gives them somewhere secure to raise their young each spring.
How to Help Wildlife Move Between Gardens
Hedgehogs can travel over a mile in a single night looking for food and mates, but garden fences and solid boundary walls often box them in.
Cutting a small, hedgehog-sized gap at the base of a fence, sometimes called a hedgehog highway, lets hedgehogs and other small mammals move freely between neighbouring gardens.
How the Wildlife Trust and National Trust Can Help You Attract Wildlife in Your Garden
If you want more detailed advice, organisations like the Wildlife Trust and the National Trust both publish excellent guidance on how to attract wildlife into your garden.
Your local Wildlife Trust branch will usually have advice specific to your local area, including which native species do best in your soil and climate.
Their wider message is a simple one.
The more gardens in a neighbourhood that offer a variety of habitats (ponds, hedges, log piles, wildflowers), the more wildlife in your garden you’re likely to see.
It’s an easy way to attract more wildlife without any major landscaping work.
Simple Ways to Turn a Common Garden Into a Wildlife Garden
You don’t need acres of space to run a proper wildlife garden.
Even small spaces and areas can support an impressive range of wildlife once a few of these changes are in place.
Start small.
Perhaps a bird feeder, a patch of long grass, a few native shrubs or a couple of small trees suited to your garden’s size, or incorporate a log pile in a quiet corner.
None of it needs to take over the whole garden.
What matters most is meeting wildlife needs consistently (food, water, shelter and safe places to breed) rather than doing one big project and then leaving it.
Small, steady changes like these are what bring wildlife to your garden over time.
Get Help Planning a Wildlife-Friendly Garden
At GGM Landscaping, we design gardens that work for people and for wildlife.
From planting schemes built around native species to ponds, log piles and hedgerows worked into the wider garden design.
If you’d like help to make your garden more wildlife-friendly, book your free garden consultation, or call us on 07946 322717 to speak to a member of our friendly team.