Garden Birds

Birds are more likely to visit gardens in autumn & winter when natural insect supplies dwindle. 

What you can do: Provide food for birds daily, including suet & sunflower hearts. Leave seeds on herbaceous plants & shrubs, and make sure to keep your birdbath filled with fresh water.

Frogs, Toads & Newts

Frogs, toads, & newts stay in log and leaf piles, under stones and plant pots, or in pond mud. They also seek shelter in compost heaps. 

What you can do: Place a tennis ball or similar object in your pond to prevent it from freezing completely. Consider building a rock pile nearby for shelter. Take care when turning over compost heaps.

Insects

Bumblebees burrow in the ground or rest in leaf litter, while butterflies seek shelter in garages, sheds. Wasps, ladybirds, & lacewings hide under loose bark on logs or in cracks in door and window frames. 

What you can do: Create hiding spots for insects by tying up bamboo and sunflower stems and leaving them in a dry area of the garden. Leave parts of the garden undisturbed over winter, allowing areas of long grass.

Hedgehogs

Almost half of all hedgehogs perish during their first winter. In milder winters, hedgehogs may wake up, mistakenly thinking it's spring, and expend precious fat reserves in search of food.

What you can do: Offer shelter by creating a leaf pile or a hedgehog house. Leave out a dish of water & hedgehog food to help replenish their fat reserves.

January 15, 2025