Perfect ponds

Ponds are amazing ecosystems that can support an incredibly wide range of species. Even a small area of water such as an old bucket in a hole is a pond that will support wildlife – a pond doesn’t have to use up lots of space.

1. You can make a pond any time of year, winter is ideal as the ground is softer and you’ll need to fill it with rain water as tap water contains unwanted additives!
    
2. Placing logs and stones around the pond will give shelter and lodging to likes of frogs and a variety of insects all year round.
    
3. Don’t clean or disturb a pond. It can naturally provide breeding and feeding opportunities to frogs, newts, dragonflies, snails, beetles and much more!
    
4. The insects found around a pond provide a nutritious food source to birds, which need all the food they can get during the winter!
    
5. Make sure the pond has a way in and out for wildlife, such as hedgehogs, to safely exit the pond – this can be done with a makeshift ramp or steps.
    
6. Freezing over doesn’t tend to benefit the species in and around a pond, try leaving a tennis ball in the water or manually thawing a part of it with a hot pan if it does freeze.
    
7. When possible, creating different areas of access and depth will help the largest range of species, especially as the water level fluctuates.

Keep it messy and natural

You probably know by now that nature isn’t neat. We really do love to stress that mess is best! Most of the time these suggestions use less effort and do amazing things for wildlife! It’s worth noting that you can still have a tidy garden whilst enacting all of these suggestions.

8. Don’t dispose of (i.e burn) old wood, leave it be or make it into piles and let it decompose. Overwintering insects will move in before you can say saproxylic invertebrate!
    
9. Leave the leaves– insects will actively cwtch under leaves and other garden debris, the birds may still find them there!
    
10. It may be tempting to completely cut back perennials, but leaving the seed heads creates food for birds and the rest of the plant is a shelter for insects.
     
11. We don’t like stings, but a small patch of nettles and brambles can provide protection to rodents, autumn food in the forms of berries and help pollinators in summer!
     
12. If you have piles of dead wood, leaves or other plants – do not disturb them over winter – hedgehogs or other species could be hibernating there. This also applies to bonfire heaps!
     
13. Trimming scraggly hedges in winter is okay – just make sure you’re not cutting away berries – don’t forget pile up and leave the debris for wildlife!
     
14. Leaving the grass as long as possible can really help butterfly or moth pupae and caterpillars, they may want to overwinter at the base of long grass.

A helping hand

There are many more ways you can go above and beyond, turn your garden in to a go-to destination for wildlife during the winter. Often you just have to think about what they really need to make their stay memorable and worthwhile.

15. A berry good thing to consider planting are the likes of hawthorn or holly bushes as they provide berries when birds need them the most!
     
16. Sometimes we forget that hedgehogs were invented before fences or private property: Creating a small hole in a fence will help them move freely once out of hibernation!
     
17. Birds don’t want to use energy on a wasted journey. Keep bird feeders well stocked, especially with fat balls and protein rich foods.
     
18. Build the wildlife hotel of your dreams! Stacked pallets, planks, logs, twigs and bricks can quickly be turned into a 5-star habitat for all kinds of critters.
     
19. A winter-flowering heather or stinking hellebore can provide emergency nectar for those, increasingly more frequent occasions, where bees emerge from hibernation due to milder conditions.
     
20. Winter is a great time to put nesting boxes into trees, with easier access to the tree. Different birds will prefer different types of box and at different heights.