Wildlife

Creating Wildlife Habitat in Gardens

Gardens collectively cover millions of hectares in the UK and can provide significant wildlife habitat when managed with wildlife in mind.

Key Facts

UK domestic gardens cover an area larger than all the country's national nature reserves combined
Ponds are the single most beneficial garden feature for wildlife diversity
Hedgehog highways — 13cm gaps in fences — allow hedgehogs to roam across multiple gardens
Native plants support 10 times more insect species than non-native ornamental plants

Welfare Considerations

Gardens managed for tidiness rather than wildlife exclude animals from habitat they could otherwise use. Fallen leaves, log piles, and dead flower heads provide overwintering habitat for invertebrates and hedgehogs. The aggregated effect of millions of wildlife-friendly gardens would create landscape-scale habitat connectivity.

What You Can Do

Install a wildlife pond of any size — even a container pond helps invertebrates
Create hedgehog gaps in fences to allow movement between gardens
Plant native flowering species including knapweed, verbena, and wild marjoram
Leave areas of long grass, leaf piles, and log stacks for overwintering wildlife