You don’t need green fingers or huge amounts of space to create your very own mini nature reserve. Whether you have a garden, allotment, back yard, balcony, patio or window box – you can make a huge difference for your local wildlife.

Feed hungry birds

One simple thing that everyone can do for wildlife this winter is to ensure that there's enough food and water available to give garden visitors a little helping hand over the colder months. A tantalising mixture of high fat content food (like fat balls or peanut cakes), seeds, nuts, grains and over-ripe fruits like apples and raisins will keep garden birds warm and ensure they're getting a varied diet.  

Get planting

Planting pots and containers with hardy flowers that offer a generous supply of nectar (like crocus, hellebores and snowdrops) is great for late pollinators. For bigger gardens – and you’ll be surprised at how little space you actually really need – you could also consider planting trees or hedge plants. Winter is the best time to do this. Choose species such as hawthorn, rowan and holly that will provide berries for birds in winter. Ivy is also incredibly important for winter wildlife. This woody, evergreen climber not only offers fabulous shelter, but also provides an essential source of food for insects and birds.

Keep your hogs happy

You could also consider leaving out food for other garden visitors, like hedgehogs. Use plain, meat-based cat food or specialist food from suppliers like our friends at Pet's Choice to help keep their teeth sharp and clean. It’s important to remember to remove any food that doesn’t get eaten overnight and replenish it with fresh food each evening.

Keep fresh water flowing

A shallow dish of fresh, clean water will keep your wild guests from going thirsty. If you have a pond you can also ensure it doesn’t freeze over completely by leaving a ball in the water to keep an ice-free section near the edge. Alternatively, melt a hole by holding a pan of hot water on the surface.

Leave those leaves

Leaf litter and log piles provide essential warmth to much of our beloved UK wildlife over winter. Many butterflies find shelter in leaf litter, either in egg, pupal or adult form to safely wait out the winter and emerge in spring. Toads and frogs will also snuggle themselves down in a warm log pile or compost heap and snooze the season away. Smaller gardens can still offer plenty of extra help in the winter by positioning insect hotels in sheltered spots.