Helping Garden Wildlife Through Winter

Winter is one of the harder seasons for Attract Garden Birds With Feeders wildlife. Natural food becomes scarce, cold weakens smaller animals quickly, and many species rely on undisturbed shelter to see them through to spring rather than active foraging.

Sited well and left in peace, an insect house can become a genuinely busy part of the garden. Many gardeners start by comparing a few insect houses before choosing one to match the space available.

For gardeners wanting an alternative to chemical sprays, a soil-applied option is worth considering as a first step, and a good starting point is a range of slug nematodes for gardens suited to the pest in question.

A garden pond, even a small one, is one of the most valuable additions for wildlife. Frogs and newts use it to breed, dragonflies and damselflies lay eggs in it, and birds and hedgehogs will drink and bathe at the edges given the chance.

Bees and other pollinating insects rely on gardens for a large share of their food, especially in built-up areas where wildflower meadows are scarce. A garden that offers flowers from early spring right through to autumn does far more for pollinators than one with a single showy burst of colour in June.

Whole peanuts should be avoided if fledglings are likely to be fed them directly, as they present a choking risk; a mesh feeder that breaks nuts into smaller pieces is the safer option. Hygiene is just as important as food choice: cleaning feeders regularly and moving their position from time to time helps reduce the build-up of bacteria that can spread between visiting birds.