small wildlife garden with pond (c) Anna Guthrie
Every garden, no matter what size, is a haven for wildlife. We hope that the guides, links and references below will inspire you to make space for wildlife in your garden.
Make Space for Nature Guides:
Create your own garden nature reserve
With our wildlife habitats increasingly under threat, every garden, is a potential nature reserve. They will give you inspiration and practical advice on many ways to make your garden wildlife-friendly. Not only that, but the action you take to make your garden a local home for wildlife also helps to connect habitats together from our neighbourhoods to our nature reserves.
The Make Space for Nature are free to download. They are a legacy of the Make Space for Nature campaign which urged everybody to take one action for nature. We hope they will give you ideas to transform your space - from window box to big garden.
- Make Space for Nature - Wildlife Gardening - By making simple changes you can make a huge difference to wildlife in your area.
- Make Space for Nature - No Garden? No Problem! - If you don't have a large garden or, in fact, any garden at all, you can still do your bit for wildlife in whatever space you have. Be creative and have fun - every little action counts!
- Make Space for Nature - Composting - By making your own compost or buying peat-free commercial compost you will help conserve peatlands, a very rare habitat in Northern Ireland.
- Make Space for Nature - Hedges for Wildlife - Hedges are often called 'wildlife corridors' as they link up wild areas, providing a route by which both plants and animals move between habitats.
- Make Space for Nature - Feeding the Birds - by following these simple suggestions you will notice the amount and variety of birds in your garden increases dramatically, and you can help birds survive the winter and raise their nestlings each year.
- Make Space for Nature - Homes for Wildlife - Some natural homes for you to provide for wildlife in your garden
- Make Space for Nature - Butterflies and Bees - These are good indicators of a healthy environment, making them a joy to find in the garden.
- Make Space for Nature - Wildlife Ponds - Creating a pond is one of the best ways of attracting new wildlife in to your own watery wildlife haven
- Make Space for Nature - Woodland Trees and Plants - Native trees are amongst the very best plants for wildlife, providing nectar-rich plants for wildlife, providing nectar-rich flowers, buds, berries, fruits, seeds and nuts, as well as places to breed, shelter and hibernate.
- Make Space for Nature - Problem Wildlife - This guide should give some options for controlling problem wildlife in your garden without having to reach for chemicals.
Links to further resources
Big Wildlife Garden competition website The BWG website contains top wildlife gardening tips and links entrants to a community of gardeners throughout the UK, with a facility to view BWG entries in their locality. It also includes 'My Garden' page where information about gardens can be uploaded and stored. And you can enter the competition any time up to May 2012! There are six competition categories (residential x 3; educational; community and business). The BWG competition is run by The Wildlife Trusts and the Royal Horticultural Society.
Wild About Gardens is a joint project run by the Royal Horticultural Society and The Wildlife Trusts. It aims to bring the worlds of gardening and nature conservation closer together. The website offers advice on what you can do for wildlife - in two hours, in a weekend, or all year round.
Further Reading
Books published in association with The Wildlife Trusts. All available to buy from online retailers.
Wildlife Gardening for Everyone
A compendium of wildlife gardening advice jointly produced by The Wildlife Trusts and RHS. RRP £12.99
Bir
ds in Your Garden
Advice from Wildlife Trust and RHS experts on turning your garden into a haven for birds. RRP £9.99
Concise Garden Wildlife Guide
One of a series of pocket-sized guides providing details on ID, habitat and behaviour for a variety of species.Other title include Wild Flowers, Insects and Trees. RRP £4.99