Wildlife gardening
© Tom Marshall
Together, our gardens are a vast living landscape. With an estimated 24 million gardens in the UK, the way they are cared for can make a big difference to the natural world.The Wildlife Trusts
Wild about gardens
Go wild in your garden! Large or small, ledge or yard, your garden can be a mosaic in a wider network of natural havens linking urban green spaces with nature reserves and the countryside.
Download your free wildlife gardening guide
Wildlife-friendly gardening is about making a haven for you, as well as for wildlife. By gardening sympathetically for wildlife, you’ll be rewarded by a truly natural outdoor space, where you can get in touch with the plants, animals and birds that make their home there
Hedgehogs, bats, sparrows, song thrushes and stag beetles are all declining species in the UK, but if we manage our gardens to benefit wildlife, these creatures and many more will find refuge. It’s not hard to be help.
Consider a whole host of wild ideas and features – or just pick one and then sit back, enjoy the view and see who visits!
Why have a plain, ugly fence when a green, living boundary can bring the riches of flowers, scent, berries, rich autumn colours and wildlife? Ever thought about which heavenly-scented plants provide night-time nectar for moths? Or digging a pond?
If you introduce a water feature, not for fish but for newts, dragonflies, pond skaters, you'll also be providing water for birds.
Plant up the edges with the golden blooms of marsh marigolds and the lush spikes of purple loosestrife and you'll have nectar stations for insects and beauty to dwell on.
More ways to help wildlife
Find more ways to take action for the wildlife in your garden by clicking on our guides below.
Wild about Gardens: Ponds
Download your free guide to creating a pond
Adding a pond is one of the best things you can do for wildlife in your garden!
Even a small pond can be home to an interesting range of wildlife, including damsel and dragonflies, frogs and newts.
It could also become a feeding ground for birds, hedgehogs and bats – the best natural garden pest controllers.
Download your free guide to how to help hedgehogs
Small, round, brown and famously covered in spines, the hedgehog is one of the most familiar of Britain's wild mammals.
Download your free guide to how to help bees
It’s no secret that many pollinators are facing threats. Insensitive land use, a reduction in plant species diversity and the use of insecticides have all been linked to declining bee numbers. This is bad news for us and for them. But you can help...
Download your free guide to how to help bats
Bats are stars of the night, seen swooping through the night sky in the pursuit of their prey. Little understood, just what is the truth about these enigmatic mammals?
Download your free guide to helping earthworms
Let's go wild about worms! These wriggly fellows are well known to gardeners all over. At first glance they might not seem particularly special, but they’re essential for our soils and wildlife.
