Landscaping and Outdoor Living

Bring Wildlife Into Your Outdoor Space: Shelter, Plants, Water and Food

Most gardens already give wildlife something: a hedge, a climber on a wall, a damp corner, a heap of leaves behind the shed. The most useful first step is usually to protect that cover. After that, add one improvement you can realistically keep up, rather than a collection of feeders, baths and boxes that each need regular care.

The Scottish Wildlife Trust lists four things garden wildlife needs: food, water, shelter and a place to breed. It stresses that providing even some of these helps, whatever the size of the garden. The order below starts with the things that keep working with little effort.

Start with what is already there

Before changing anything, spend a little time noticing how the space works. Which parts get sun, and for how long? Is the soil heavy and wet, or light and dry? Where do birds already perch or take cover? Is there a corner nobody uses? A shaded, damp strip suits different plants from a sunny patio, and a quiet corner is often the best place to let things stay a little wild. In a small space it also helps to decide what you most want to support, such as pollinating insects or garden birds, rather than trying to cater for everything.

Shelter: tidy less, keep more

Shelter is the cheapest part of a wildlife garden to maintain, because much of it comes from doing less. NatureScot’s guidance on enhancing biodiversity recommends keeping dead wood where possible and notes that wood piles give birds and small mammals shelter and food. It also points out that adult newts need places such as log piles and compost heaps, not just water.

Leave a small pile of logs or branches in a shady corner where it will not be disturbed.
Let some long grass, twigs and fallen leaves stay through the colder months. The Scottish Wildlife Trust notes that hedgehogs and other wildlife use this material as cover when they hibernate.
Grow climbers such as honeysuckle or ivy on walls and fences. They give birds nesting and roosting places where there is no room for shrubs.
If you have space for a hedge, a mix such as hawthorn, holly and dog rose provides food as well as cover.
Where boundaries are solid, the Scottish Wildlife Trust suggests a hedge, or a small gap at the bottom of a fence panel, so hedgehogs can move between gardens. If the fence is shared, agree it with your neighbour first.

If you keep a compost heap, turn it slowly and look as you go, as animals may be sheltering inside.

Plants that suit your space

Choose plants for the light and soil you actually have, then aim for variety:

different flower shapes
something in flower for as much of the year as you can manage
some plants that carry seeds or berries

The Scottish Wildlife Trust recommends simple, nectar-rich flowers in a sheltered, sunny spot for butterflies, plus food plants for their caterpillars. The RSPB says that helping birds find their own food is one of the best long-term ways to support them, and names sunflowers, teasels and ivy as useful plants for this.

Native trees and shrubs are a good choice where they fit. The Scottish Wildlife Trust recommends them because Scottish wildlife has evolved alongside them. Many gardens have room for one small tree at most, though. A hedge, a few shrubs or a climber can supply much of the same food and cover. Healthy garden plants that already attract insects are worth keeping too: native plants are valuable, but they are not the only useful ones.

On a balcony or patio, tubs, window boxes and raised beds planted with herbs and nectar-rich flowers can bring in bees, butterflies and hoverflies. On a lawn, you could let part of the grass grow longer and add flowering plants, which takes little effort. NatureScot also advises avoiding pesticides and herbicides. Many of the insects and slugs gardeners dislike are food for birds and hedgehogs.

Water: choose what you can look after

A bird bath and a pond are cared for in different ways, so treat them as separate decisions.

A bird bath means fresh water every day

Current RSPB advice is to put water out for birds only if two things are true: you can change it every day, and there is no local pond available. The parasite that causes trichomonosis can survive in water. This disease has caused serious declines in greenfinches and chaffinches, and the RSPB regards ponds as a lower-risk water source than bird baths.

For a bird bath, the RSPB recommends:

refilling with tap water in most areas
cleaning the bath at least once a week with hot soapy water and a non-toxic disinfectant
if your supply is chloraminated rather than chlorinated, using a raised bath where possible, and filling any ground-level bath only with rainwater from a lidded water butt (your water company’s website should say how your water is treated)

If you are often away, or the bowl is likely to sit unchanged for days, it is better not to offer a bird bath at all. Put the effort into planting and shelter instead.

A small pond or container pond

A pond can be very small. The RHS guide to wildlife ponds says even a mini pond in a pot benefits wildlife. The Scottish Wildlife Trust notes that old sinks and buckets placed away from overhanging trees can be valuable too. The main points from the RHS:

Give animals a way in and out with at least one long, shallow slope. If a container stands above ground, add a ramp on both the inside and the outside.
Let part of the pond have shade and part get full sun.
Plant in and around the water. Native plants are useful, but many non-natives and ornamentals also provide habitat. Check that each plant suits the size of your pond, and avoid known invasive aquatic weeds.
If the level needs topping up, use rainwater, with tap water only as a last resort. Seasonal drops are natural, so there is no need to rush.
A wildlife pond does not need a filter. Fish are best avoided because they eat pond life and raise nutrient levels.
Let wildlife find the pond itself. Moving frogspawn, sediment or water from another pond can spread disease or unwanted species.

The RHS suggests autumn and winter as good times to make a new pond, with planting best from mid-spring to early summer. After that, disturb it as little as possible.

Water and young children: any open water can be a drowning risk, including a container pond or a shallow dish. A slope that lets a frog climb out does not make water safe for a child. Supervise children near water at all times. If that is not realistic in your household, hold off on open water.

Feeding birds by season

Feeding is optional, and it needs more regular care than anything else here. To reduce the spread of disease, the RSPB now advises feeding by season:

1 November to 30 April: you can offer a full range of bird foods, including seeds, peanuts, mealworms, fat balls and suet.
1 May to 31 October: pause seeds and peanuts. If you keep feeding, offer only small amounts of mealworms, fat balls or suet.

In every season, the RSPB recommends hanging feeders rather than bird tables, window feeders or feeders with trays, because disease spreads more easily on flat surfaces. It also advises you to:

clean feeders at least once a week with hot soapy water and a non-toxic disinfectant
clear old food and droppings from underneath
move feeders to a new spot each week
avoid hanging them below places where birds roost, such as under trees
keep food dry

Offer only what will be eaten. Seeds and peanuts should be gone within a day or two, and suet products should not stay out longer than seven days. Mealworms should be eaten or cleared away by dusk the same day. If that routine is unlikely to happen, seed heads, berrying shrubs and ivy are a better fit.

Seasonal jobs without disturbing wildlife

NatureScot advises managing hedges, scrub and trees outside sensitive times such as the bird nesting period. A date on the calendar is no guarantee, though. Before trimming, check carefully for an active nest, and leave that section until the young have gone.

Around a pond, the RHS suggests cutting long grass in late autumn, after young amphibians have left. It also suggests leaving faded marginal plants until late winter to protect insects. In borders, standing stems and seed heads give cover and food over winter, when natural food is in shorter supply.