Small changes make a difference

Thoughtful planting and creating wild areas helps wildlife

BIRD, insect and mammal life may be quietening down in your garden, but there is still lots you can do to lay the foundations to welcome more wildlife back when spring comes around.

I will be spending the next few weeks adding to our habitat pile of twiggy prunings stuffed with moss and straw.

If space is tight in your garden, you can do your bit by leaving a little corner to grow wild, or by filling plant pots with straw and tucking them away beneath shrubs and in quiet areas.

We also have a ‘hedgehog barn’ from Wildlife World ( wildlifeworld.co.uk, call 01666 505333). It is tucked away in a quiet spot and stuffed with straw so hopefully one of our local hogs will consider it des res enough for winter.

Bundles of hollow twigs stuffed into shrubs create little havens for all sorts of mini-beasts that will emerge next year to prey on insect pests.

While the soil is damp and still warm from summer, plant insect-attracting perennials. Echinacea, globe thistles, sea holly and wallflowers such as ‘Bowles’ Mauve’ are all excellent suppliers of nectar.

Winter heather is an early food plant for the earliest emerging bees and with tree-planting season now upon us, why not invest in a blossom-rich fruit tree or two?