A garden is a place where you can relax and unwind, as well as a place where you can enjoy entertaining. However, it is also a place that should provide for local wildlife. With more and more homes being built around the UK, many animals are losing their habitats, and a way that we can all combat this is to ensure that we do all that we can to provide suitable homes and food for them.

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Garden landscaping and design can be done to incorporate both the needs of the homeowner and the wildlife – it is certainly not an either one or the other scenario. There are plenty of things that you can do yourself, however, sometimes you should get a professional like this tree surgeon Gloucester based business to tackle those more difficult jobs.

If you want to improve your garden for the local wildlife, here are some of the things that you can do…

Build a Pond – One of the best ways to encourage wildlife into the garden and create a thriving habitat is to build a pond. A pond will be used by many animals, from amphibians like frogs and newts, to insects like great diving beetles and dragonflies. You don’t need a vast amount of space to create a pond either, small ponds can be fantastic ecosystems.

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Use a Range of Native Plants – Something that really affects the wildlife in an area is a decline in native plants. These are important to a healthy environment, and you can grow large areas of meadow flowers to help bees and butterflies to thrive in the summer. Plants like nettles are also good to have, as there are butterflies that rely on them, as well as plants that are around in the winter, such as holly and ivy – these are important foods for many species when food is more scarce.

Create Places to Shelter – Another thing that many animals rely on over the winter months is shelter. Being able to hide away undisturbed until the spring is essential for the survival for many insects, as well as mammals like hedgehogs. Creating spaces where they can do this will really help the wildlife in your area to flourish, and see out the winter comfortably.