As the hours of daylight decrease and temperatures drop we know that Autumn is here. For us, it is a time to wrap up, keep warm and look forward to Spring. For our wildlife it is a time of preparing to survive. We can help our wildlife to survive in many ways. Here are some:

  • Let the garden go wild! Instead of raking up all the leaves and cutting everything back, leave things until the spring. Fallen leaves and overgrown plants provide a habitat for insects and other small creatures which are a food source for small mammals and birds. They can also look very attractive when there is a frost! Save your tidying up for the spring.
  • If you do rake up the leaves put them in a pile or on a compost heap where they can provide a home for worms, insects, frogs and even hedgehogs.
  • Now is a good time to clear out leaves and other dead vegetation from your pond if you have one. Pull it carefully out of the pond and leave it in a pile next to the pond overnight so that any pond life can get back into the pond. Then add it to the compost heap where it will break down to enrich you garden soil.
Frog
  • Autumn is a great time to put up a nest box or to clean out and maintain any existing nest boxes. Although birds aren’t nesting they do use nest boxes to roost in overnight and in bad weather. It also gives them the opportunity to find and test out possible nesting sites for the spring.
  • Feeding birds through the winter helps birds to survive and provides you with some fantastic views of beautiful birds. Make sure that your bird feeders are cleaned regularly, particularly when there is a bird flu outbreak.
  • To encourage hedgehogs leave piles of leaves or build a hedgehog home. It is also a good time to go round your boundaries and make sure that there are lots of spaces for hedgehogs to be able to move from one garden to another. If you are putting up new fences make sure that you leave a gap under the fence every so often for them to get through, hedgehogs need to be able to roam over quite a distance in order to find enough food.
  • If you don’t have a garden then why not join one of the local wildlife or community organisations who will have events to help maintain and improve your local area.

If you are doing something special for wildlife in your garden or you have any tips, why not share it here in the comments below.