When it comes to gardening, many of us do the bare basics of cutting the lawn and pulling weeds. While this is sufficient for those who don’t make use of their backyard or are generally adverse to the outdoors, it’s important to remember that your garden could provide a beautiful home or source of food and water for the wildlife in your local area. The good news? Making the most of this space doesn’t take all too much effort! Here are a couple of things that you might want to consider doing to make your garden an environmentally friendly haven!

Making a Hedgehog Highway

Chances are that you haven’t seen a hedgehog for a little while. This is because they are nocturnal. However, recent studies have found that our prickly little friends are experiencing struggle at the moment. Bad and unpredictable weather has made their lives difficult, and while we can’t control the contrast of rain and snow followed by dry hot weather, we can make these small creatures’ lives a little easier. How? Well, you can install a hedgehog highway in your garden. Hedgehogs roam between one and two miles every night in search of food, and a small gap in the bottom of your fence reduces the energy that they would otherwise have to exert (and reduce the injuries that they might incur from) scaling the fence and rolling from the top to the ground. The next time you have Fence repair and installation carried out, you can request that a small, neat gap be made at the bottom of a panel on each side of your garden that will allow hedgehogs to pass through easily.

Installing a Pond

If you have small children living in your home or regularly visiting you, you might want to give a pond a miss, as any expanse of water can be dangerous for little ones. However, for the rest of us, they create a beautiful spot for nature to flourish. They act as a source of water for birds and small mammals, and can create a habitat for amphibians such as frogs, toads, and newts.

Providing for the Bees

If you haven’t heard, bees are currently in serious danger. You’ve probably noticed that there are far fewer about than summers past. There are various reasons for their declining numbers, but a main contributor is habitat destruction. But you can lend them a helping hand. Consider planting plenty of bee-friendly flowers out back. This will give them a source of pollen and nectar from which they can feed. Great options include Annual Scabious, Bee Sage, Rosemary, Sage, and Sea Holly. You could also add native plants such as the Common Poppy, Goldenrod, and Lesser Snapdragon, which will interact with local biosystems and help the greater area outside of your garden too!

Even if you don’t make use of your garden yourself, remember the potential that it holds for other creatures nearby! Just a few small changes can make all the difference!

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