It’s a part of reality that we humans are pushing further and further into the natural world, at the same time ridding the homes of many of the animals that have lived around us for centuries. However, we can all help to mitigate the damage of the development that we are part of by, instead, taking the time to make our garden a part of their ecosystem instead. Here are a few ways to do that.
Build them a home
There are some creatures that you could give a truly warm welcome by creating a home for them. You can look at ways to create a hedgehog garden to offer local mammals a little shelter in the winter, for instance. Bee hotels are a great way to care for sick or injured bees while they recover, sheltering them until they find their way back to the hive, too.
Make your garden a little wilder
The garden itself can be a little closer to the natural ecosystem surrounding it if you’re willing to not manicure it quite as much. However, you don’t have to fully give it to the weeds. You can get wildflower seeds from sites like British Wildflower Seeds and partition off a section of the garden that comes alive with all kinds of colours. Most importantly, it’s going to make the garden much more attractive to all kinds of pollinators.
Put out a feast
If you want to make wildlife more welcome in your garden, then there’s nothing better providing a little snack to convince them to stop in. Leaving out bread and milk might sound kind, but the truth is that most animals aren’t going to be able to digest either very well. Whether you want mammals like hedgehogs to come to visit or you want your garden to be alive with birdsong, animal feed like Little Peckers is usually a better option. It can take a little while for animals to become less cautious of a new environment, but they will adapt soon enough.
What a little water does
Water features can be a fantastic addition to the garden. Even smaller fountains will provider plenty of drinking water for birds. However, if you’re willing to go even further and install ponds with the help of services like Perfect Ponds, you can also attract frogs, newts, dragonflies, and much more. Of course, you can choose to add fish to the pond, as well, but it’s important to be wary of which might predate on local life instead of supporting it.
Mind how you manage your pests
There’s no denying that, in building a garden that is better suited to welcoming local wildlife, you are also opening the garden to pests that can cause problems, whether by infiltrating the home or by eating your crops. However, look at natural means of beating those pests, such by attracting their predators or using plants that naturally repel them.
With the tips above, you can minimise that harm that you’re doing, even inadvertently, to your wilder neighbours and give a little back to the local ecosystem instead.
