How to help your Garden Wildlife in Autumn
Easy things you can do to live in harmony with the wildlife in your garden right now.
If we want to make a difference in the world and to start building some harmony with the world around us, one of the easiest and best ways to do so is to start at home. And a great way to do that is through making our garden or outdoor space wildlife friendly as we discussed in our last post.
Previously, we discussed the importance of water, food, shelter, and access. We also looked at suggested ways we could provide these. But in this post, I want to look at what we can do right now, today, in our gardens or outdoor spaces, to become more harmonious with the local area around us.
There are 6 things you could consider doing in the next week or two to help Wildlife in your garden…
1 – Plants
Autumn is the perfect time to plant trees, bushes, and bulbs. Trees and bushes need time to get established ready for the next year and so now is a great time to plant them if you have the space. They also make particularly good habitat for wildlife, especially birds and insects.
Many bees and insects wake up from hibernation quite early in the year (and with climate change, it’s getting even earlier) but there is often not much food available so they can end up starving. One way to resolve this is to have lots of early flowering bulbs in the garden. Bulbs need to be planted in the Autumn so now is the perfect time to do so. But make sure they are ones that produce nectar as many modern varieties don’t - Some really good bulbs to go for are snowdrops (which can flower as early as January), crocuses, primroses (only primula vulgaris), and muscari.
It can also be good to plant some winter heathers such as Erica Carnea which flowers from January to April, and Hellebores.
Ivy is another vitally important plant for wildlife in winter, providing not just berries when there is nothing else available, but also shelter too. It is an often misunderstood plant and some believe (wrongly) that it will destroy walls if it grows up your house, but that’s not true and it’s a really important plant to have in the garden. So if you don’t yet have Ivy, now is the time to plant some.
2 – Don’t be so Tidy
Gardeners have got used to the idea that the garden should be “tidied up” in Autumn but this is just not true and it’s terrible for wildlife. Don’t be tidy, let things be, and then wildlife will thrive - it is a lifeline for them. Leave the dead plants over winter so that insects can hibernate in the stalks and stems of old flowers, and the birds can eat the seeds left on the plants. Wait till early spring to “tidy up”. Don’t rake up those leaves (or if you do, stick them in a pile in a corner somewhere) - many insects will live under the leaves or old bits of wood on the ground, and that provides food for hedgehogs, birds, and other wildlife. And if you do have any deadwood - make a pile or two in the corner of your garden instead, or put tree prunings into a “dead hedge” space somewhere in your garden.
3 – Help the Hedgehogs
Hedgehogs are very close to extinction. A major cause of this is people paving over their gardens and building walls and fences around their gardens which prevents access to hedgehogs. If you have a closed-off garden, one of the best ways to help would be to cut a small 13cm square hole at the bottom of your fence so that hedgehogs can get access (and ideally encourage your neighbours to do the same).
You might even be able to encourage hedgehogs to hibernate in your garden by buying or making a hedgehog home and putting it in a quiet corner of your garden with some fresh food and water. A pile of leaves in the corner will also work.
And if you plan to have a bonfire during the autumn, don’t forget to check that no hedgehogs have decided to use it as a home before you light it.
4 – Build a pond
One of the best times to put in a pond is in Autumn. However, there is also the risk of it freezing in winter so to prevent that, make sure that at least one small area of it is at least 60 – 90 cm deep so that it won’t freeze over completely.
5 – Support the bees
Consider putting in a bee hotel, but remember that not all bees will use bee hotels as some like to nest in the ground. You can help these bees by leaving some grass growing long (long grass also attracts some species of butterflies to lay their eggs on it). If you want to help out Queen bees, you could also leave stacks of plant pots in a sheltered spot so they can use it to hibernate in.
6 – Feed the birds
In early Autumn, food is abundant for birds, but as we get towards winter, food becomes scarce. Now is the time to consider how you can help birds with food during winter. having berry-producing trees or bushes in your garden is a good start, however, they can take time to establish and produce fruit so you can also start putting out some food like nuts, seeds, and fat balls throughout the autumn and winter.
So these are 6 ways you can start to develop a more harmonious relationship with the world around you this autumn - by realising that “your” garden or outdoor space is not just yours, it belongs to all those living things that use it or call it home. Implementing these 6 simple steps will ensure the natural world thrives around you and you also get to enjoy seeing all the wonderful wildlife that will be attracted to your garden or outdoor space.