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The aesthetic appeal of a garden extends to the wealth of wildlife found within it. But what can you do to encourage biodiversity and attract more birds, mammals, and insects to visit your own garden?
Browse this gallery and find out how you can create a wildlife haven in your own backyard.
Encourage birds into you garden by giving them food. Purchase a bird table or a feeder and entice feathered friends with tasty snacks. Remember to keep tabletops and feeders clean to prevent the spread of disease.
Seeds such as nyjer seeds are rich in fat and adored by finches. House sparrows love sunflower seeds. Mealworms are a treat in spring when parents are busy looking for insects to feed their young. Breadcrumbs work wonders as a quick snack.
Love hedgehogs? These cute, spiny mammals are usually nocturnal and like nothing better than to explore their surroundings after dark. But first they need to find a way in to the garden.
You can help these friendly but threatened hogs by creating a nature corridor: a gap in the fence or wall that hedgehogs and other wildlife can squeeze through.
Help solitary bees find a home. These guys make their nests on their own, in tunnels of dead wood or hard soil. This is where they lay their eggs.
You can easily build a bee B&B. Take a large plastic bottle, chop the end off, and fill with bamboo cane. Five-star luxury! Alternatively, drill several deep holes in a log and watch what happens. Property is all about location, location, location, so make sure you "build" on a sunny patch!
It’s all too easy to mow the lawn and trim back flowers after they’ve died. But resist the temptation. Small mammals love a walk on the wild side.
Let parts of your lawn grow, and leave dead flowers to go to seed. Birds such as goldfinches will appreciate the extra bounty, and here’s the thing: seed heads look so much more attractive than bare earth!
If you’re serious about turning your garden into a wildlife-friendly zone, then a nest box is a must.
Depending on the size of the garden, consider putting up two or three boxes, attached to trees. No garden? No problem! You can easily attach a nest box to the wall of your house. The higher off the ground, the better.
Dense undergrowth and varying lengths of grass encourage hedgehogs to nest.
Your friendly neighborhood hog will settle in quickly if there are plenty of slugs, snails, and bugs to feast on.
Ever thought of creating a pond in your garden? Quite apart from providing fish with a welcome sanctuary, a small pond can attract frogs, newts, and dragonflies. Indeed, a pond gives all sorts of wildlife a place to drink and bathe.
Creating a garden pond doesn’t have to be an expensive, custom-built effort. Sink an old washing up bowl or even a discarded bathtub into the ground and you have the makings of a fantastic outdoor water feature.
Frogs love water, but they also require moist, shady conditions and a cool atmosphere to keep their skin in optimum condition. Toads, too, appreciate damp, sheltered hangouts.
Why not create a toad abode by digging a narrow hole in the ground and furnishing it with a mix of soil, rubble, leaves, and twigs? Make it at least 30 cm (12 in) deep so that the amphibious homeowners can create an underground maze.
Bugs and creepy-crawlies are essential green keepers, and perform important roles in your garden. Don’t get rid of them. Instead, encourage their presence by building a luxury bug hotel.
Wooden pallets, old bricks, broken masonry, twigs, straw, and hay can all be used to construct a property that insects can check into. Top it off with old roof tiles to keep it dry.
Garden walls and fences needn’t be drab and boring to look at. Use climbing plants such as ivy and honeysuckle, for example, to brighten up their appearance.
Enhancing borders with plenty of foliage also provides food and shelter for a wealth of wildlife.
Embroidering your garden with a tree or a bush that produces fruit, berries, or blossom provides a rich source of nourishment for insects and birds.
Trees and shrubs also provide cover for small animals, and protect numerous species from the elements.
Choose flower species that will take you through early spring to late autumn. This way your garden will be carpeted with colorful blossoms almost year round. But that's not all...
Flowers not only enhance a garden's aesthetic appeal: they are an important source of pollen and nectar for bees and butterflies too.
Don't throw away those fruit and vegetable peelings. Uncooked kitchen scraps make ideal compost, and attract a host of different wildlife.
Deposit everything in a garden compost container to hold it all while it decays.
It's not only birds that appreciate somewhere safe to sleep and raise a family. Bats too like to hang out in a ready-made shelter.
Bat boxes should be erected near a sheltered position such as under the eves of a house, or on the trunk of a large tree, preferably away from bright lights.
A pile of dead wood in a shady area makes a wonderful habitat for all sorts of small mammals, amphibians, and insects.
Remember to only use non-painted and non-stained wood. A natural surface is also likely to encourage the growth of fungi.
See also: Beautiful wildlife driven to extinction
Creative ways to attract wildlife to your garden
May is Gardening for Wildlife Month
LIFESTYLE Nature
The aesthetic appeal of a garden extends to the wealth of wildlife found within it. But what can you do to encourage biodiversity and attract more birds, mammals, and insects to visit your own garden?
Browse this gallery and find out how you can create a wildlife haven in your own backyard.