how to help wildwife survive the winter

Here are some tips on how to help the wildlife in your garden to survive the winter months.

Hedgehogs:



Hedgehogs are cool and they are a useful little animal for GIYers to have in the garden as they eat our arch-nemesis, the slug. Unfortunately the winter can be tough on them. Nearly half of hedgehogs die in their first winter from starvation or cold. A tidy gargen unfortunately is no friend to many of the winter inhabitants of our gardens including the hedgehogs as they love leaf piles to hibernate in (good excuse to leave the leaves where they are I always think). You can buy or make hedgehog houses to encourage them in to your garden - check out these intructions on how to build a hedgehog house from an old wine crate. If you have hedgehogs in your garden some water and dog/cat food in autumn can help them to build up fat reserves but stop feeding them in the winter to encourage them to hibernate (and be careful of leaving feed lying around as it will encourage rodents).

Birds:



Leave some fallen fruit on the ground as a snack for birds. I throw the butt of my daily apple out on to the grass each day and it´s always devoured by birds! Sunflowers can be allowed to run to seed which provides a great snack for birds. Birds will rely on your bird feeder in winter as their natural sources of food (berries, insects etc) will be drying up. In very cold weather, it can help to supply them with high energy food such as peanuts and suet. Make sure they have access to water in your garden and if it freezes over at night, make sure to thaw it out with a splash of boiling water from the kettle.

Insects:



We often associate hibernation with hedgehogs etc, but insects like butterflies, bumblebees, wasps and ladybirds also rest up for the winter. Tie up 10cm lengths of bamboo or elder stem and put them somewhere dry to provide nooks and crannies for lots of little insects. (Click here for instructions on how to make an insect "hotel").

Frogs:



Frogs overwinter in log and leaf piles, or under stones and pots. I found a frog hibernating in one of my compost heaps when I was turning it over last year. They do not hibernate completely and will surface on warmer days. A north facing rock pile beside a pond or in a damp area of the garden would provide the perfect spot for them as it will stay at a relatively consistent temperature day and night. If you have a pond, float something in it to stop if from freezing over (like a tennis ball). A frozen pond is inhospitable to frogs resting in it due to lack of oxygen.