Whether driven by sustainability efforts or just an underlying care for Mother Nature, there are many benefits of making your garden more attractive to animals and insects. Aside from all the environmental benefits, upping the number of visitors to your garden can make for a prettier setting during summer and a more homely environment during the winter. When it comes to creating a wildlife sanctuary into your outdoor space, we’ve broken it down into four areas: flower choice, shelter, food and water.
Flower Choice for your Wildlife Sanctuary
Flowers are a great starting point when it comes to attracting wildlife to your garden, and your choice will drastically impact the type of visitors you can expect to have. During warmer months, focus on attracting pollinators to your garden; planting a variety of flowers will attract different species to your garden.
Fortunately, many flowers and plants that attract insects are also some of the prettiest. Bright yellow Birdsfoot Trefoils and poppies are great examples of wildflowers that can enhance your garden’s setting as well as the number of wildlife in your garden.
Also, consider flowers that can be used for camouflage. Butterflies love using flowers like Alliaria Petiolata (garlic mustard) to hide from predators.
Shelter in your Wildlife Sanctuary
One of the best ways to attract a variety of insects and small animals to your garden is to create a safe haven for them to seek refuge. Logs and old pallets are the perfect materials to build an animal shelter, especially if you live in a cold, damp climate.
This is also a good way to attract slightly larger visitors to your garden. A pile of damp timber will be a magnet for animals like frogs and hedgehogs, which will enjoy feasting on smaller insects that you’ve drawn to your garden.
Trees also provide a great natural source of shelter, and if you are a bird lover, they offer the perfect location for them to build nests and lay eggs.
Food
Animals will always be drawn to food, and there’s a variety of ways you can increase the number of food sources in your garden wildlife sanctuary. First, consider how to enrich your soil, which will attract small insects such as worms and beetles.
On top of this, you can create a feeding station for birds made up of seeds, nuts and mealworms. Feeding stations have become a great way to enhance the aesthetic of your garden, so you may want to spend some time searching for the perfect style.
Berries are also a common food source for small animals. Growing them in your garden or simply scattering them over your lawn will do the trick. However, berries are also loved by rodents, so you may want to take extra steps to prevent mice and rats in your garden.
Water for your Wildlife Sanctuary
Water is as important for wildlife as it is for us, so factoring this into your garden plans is crucial. If you have taken our advice to implement a bird feeding station, you could also ensure there is a water source for visiting birds. For any budding nature photographer, bird baths also provide a great setting to capture those perfect shots.
If you want to go the extra mile when adding a water source to your garden, a pond will do a great job of attracting water-loving animals such as frogs and toads. In addition, birds and bigger mammals may stop by for a drink from your pond, too.
Conclusion
It’s important we continue to take steps to care for our wildlife sanctuary. A thriving animal ecosystem has many benefits for our world, but it can also add an extra bit of character to our outdoor living spaces. If you’re new to the world of gardening, you may want to start small by introducing changes such as different flowers. It’s also important you view this as a long-term commitment, and regular garden maintenance is essential, so you’ll need to get hold of some basic gardening equipment such as pruners and trowels.
If this article has sparked your interest in anything wildlife-related, check out some of our other articles that cover everything from climate change to biodiversity.
Written by: Toby Patrick