Give wildlife a home

The results of our annual review of garden wildlife* are in, so what's thriving (and not) in the nation's gardens, and what can you do to make a difference? GW Wildlife Editor, Kate Bradbury, reveals all and shares easy wildlife projects to complete this year

Last year was tricky for wildlife. The dry spring followed by record-breaking summer temperatures and droughts in some parts of the country meant that many species went hungry and thirsty. Those using our gardens will have been the lucky ones, as nearly 80 percent of respondents left out water for wildlife. The simple act of watering plants will have helped bees and other pollinators, too, as drought-stressed plants stop producing nectar. On behalf of all the wild things, thank you.

As the climate continues to change and extremes of weather become more common, our gardens will become ever more important for wildlife. When it's dry we can water our plants and leave out something to drink, when rain washes caterpillars off leaves we can leave out mealworms so the birds can feed their chicks. We can leave supplementary food for hedgehogs while adding more native plants to increase levels of natural food for everyone. Overall, wildlife sightings are slightly down.

Just 13 percent saw more wildlife in 2022 compared to 2021, a decline from the 27 percent reporting more wildlife sightings in 2020. This is to be expected as more of us are going back to work after the pandemic, and it's too early to say if this is reflecting real declines.

Happily, attitudes toward wildlife appear to be moving in a positive direction. Plenty of you are leaving out water and cleaning your bird feeders, which is very happy news indeed.

Birds