Feed the Birds

It’s always a treat to look out of your kitchen window and see birds fluttering around your garden. So, it’s always a good idea to know how to keep them coming this spring. One of the best things you can do to help our feathered friends is have plenty of bird feeders on the go.

A choice of feeders can always be found at your local supermarket, but if that’s not your style, coconut shells stuffed with fats are a great homemade replacement. To keep birds visiting, it’s also important that these feeders remain clean. A guide on how to keep your feeders in tip-top shape can be found here.

Of course, what you put in your bird feeders is also very important. Seeds are always a favourite. Whether you pick sunflower, peanut or nyger, seeds are not only filled with fats, but also protein to give birds a boost of energy.

At this time of year, mealworms are also a great source of food for birds in their breeding and fledgling season.

If you want to find out more about how to attract birds into your garden this spring, check out this page.

Build a Wildlife Pond

It’s not only important to keep our wildlife well-fed, but watered too. A wildlife pond can certainly help with that! If you’re looking to attract more wildlife into your garden this spring, ponds are a great way to do it, with creatures like newts, frogs and dragonflies often calling them their home.

Not got much outdoor space? Even the smallest of ponds are incredibly valuable, and the best part is, they’re super simple to set up. It can be as easy as finding a discarded washing-up bowl and a nice quiet corner to put it in.

The best part comes with choosing the plants for your pond – only a couple are needed, but they certainly help to brighten things up and bring in wildlife. More details about how to build a wildlife pond can be found here.

Help the Hedgehogs

Around this time of year, some of our more prickly friends are starting to emerge from hibernation. Very soon, hedgehogs will be looking for comfortable nesting spots to raise young, and a garden may be just the right place. Of course, only it if it has the right features.

While our hedgehogs may now be well-rested, they are definitely also hungry. So, if you’re looking to find yourself some new neighbours, a bowl of meat-based, wet dog or cat food could do the trick.

A water source is also a good idea to have in your garden (maybe even a wildlife pond?). As the months get warmer, hedgehogs will need drinking water, and possibly somewhere to cool off – they are excellent swimmers after all!

As well as food and drink, these critters also need somewhere to live. Why not try setting up your own hedgehog house to help them out?

With their upcoming breeding season, and the species in decline, it’s now more important than ever to ensure our hedgehogs are well looked after. To find out more about how you can do your part, check out this page.

Go Peat-Free

For many years, peat has been a major ingredient in a lot of gardening compost, but it is shockingly damaging to our environment. Peat comes from peatlands, which is vegetation and organic matter that has been decaying in wet conditions for sometimes thousands of years.

This land plays an essential role in preventing climate change, as they store around 3.2 billion tonnes of carbon in the UK alone. Sadly, when peat is dug up, peatlands are often damaged and this important habitat isn’t easy to repair. If you’re looking to find out more about how you can help our peatlands, check out our action pack here.

To help prevent these damaging effects, you can go peat-free. Starting this year, peat compost has been banned, but a full phase out in horticulture isn’t expected until 2030. So, if you’re looking to make your home as eco-friendly as possible, here is our checklist to ensure that you can be 100% peat-free.

Go Chemical Free

Just as with peat, there are a number of chemicals that can be harmful to your garden. It’s very common for people to use pesticides and bug-sprays to help keep harmful species out, but while this can be effective, it also keeps many other animals away too. Thankfully, it’s possible to keep your garden free of pests without the need for any nasty chemicals.

If you want to keep pests out, welcome predators in! Bugs such as ladybirds are aphid predators, and if you attract them to your garden, they will quite happily deal with the problem for you. Other animals, such as hedgehogs, are also big beetle fans and can be great allies in keeping your plants healthy and pest-free.

Apart from other animals, plants can also be a massive help. By having a varied range of plants, your garden becomes more resilient to pests. Strong smelling plants like garlic and mint are reported to have a repelling effect on some species, while companion planting will assure your garden can flourish.

A more extensive list of tips on how to go chemical-free can be found here.

Plant Pollinator-Friendly Plants

Inviting pollinators into your garden is always a good way to help our wildlife. Many insects feed on nectar from our flowers and when they travel around the garden, they carry the pollen to other plants allowing them bare fruit or set seeds. As an added bonus, many pollinators are some of our most beautiful bugs!

Butterflies, for example, are particularly fond of Hebe and aster. Meanwhile, bumblebees are partial to lavender and foxglove. To keep your garden vibrant, ensure you have many species of flowers on the go, but also herbs too. Many herbs, such as chives and rosemary are very attractive to pollinators, and can add some great diversity to your garden.  If you’re looking for more information, check out our extensive list of the best plants for pollinators.

Let your Lawn Grow

Perhaps one of the easiest things you can do this spring, is simply not cut your lawn. A chore for most, mowing the lawn is something many of us would gladly cut out of the weekend to-do list, but did you know that letting your grass grow wild is actually a great boost for wildlife?

Long lawns can provide a great habitat and hiding place for many insects, and luscious blades of grass are also moisture filled, making it a particularly desirable location for many animals to cool off.

When you leave your lawn to grow, there’s also a good chance you’ll see many pretty flowers popping up, like buttercups and daisies – just another way to add colour to your garden! To find out more about the benefits of letting your lawn grow, check out this page.

Is your garden wild?

If the idea of letting your lawn grow really suits you, why not take it one step further and have a wild garden? Turn your green space into a little nature reserve by letting a patch of your land truly go wild.

It can make a massive difference to our environment here in the UK, especially when 97% of Britain’s wildflower meadows have disappeared since WW2.

If you do decide to embrace a wild garden, and are particularly proud of the results, you can also enter our My Wild Garden Awards to show your dedication to UK’s wildlife.