In urban areas, gardens are the green corridors that wildlife use as part of their daily (or nightly) behaviour. The key to attracting any kind of wildlife to your garden is to provide several areas that mimic in some way the world outside a garden fence. A few basic style points will make your garden not only a paradise for you, but also for any passing birds, animals and insects.

Water is fundamental to all life, and is a magnet to wildlife. If children are regular visitors to your garden, you will need to choose carefully which water feature you install, but any kind of container with water in it is useful for wildlife. If you have the space, a small pond is ideal; as long as the water is clean and there are shallow sloping places that enable insects and amphibians to crawl in and out, it is likely to attract a wide range of wild visitors. Whether you stock the pond with fish or not is a personal choice, although goldfish can be irresistible to herons! If you have no room for a pond, a half-barrel or container of a similar size is a good choice. If you include aquatic plants that have stems above the water line, you will encourage insects such as dragonflies to lay their eggs there. Ponds should be situated in either full sun or partial shade, and will need topping up with water in hot weather. For those with just a small patio or postage stamp-size garden, a shallow birdbath is perfect. These can either be placed on the ground, or on a plinth out of the way of local cats, and enable birds to drink as well as bathe, but will also need to be topped up daily in the summer and regularly cleaned to remove slime.

Providing consistent sources of food is another simple way of encouraging birds and insects into your garden. You can either purchase conventional feeders and situate them around the garden, again keeping them away from places that cats can lay in wait, or you can introduce plants and trees that offer their own snack bars. If you have room to allow a portion of your garden to grow wild, this will be perfect for butterflies and other insects to rest and feed. Choose plants with open flowers and bright colours to attract butterflies and other nectar gatherers such as bees. If you include plants that caterpillars can feed on such as cabbage and nettles, butterflies will be regular visitors. Other insects drawn in by your water supply will in turn attract and become food for birds.

Plants that have plentiful seed heads such as teasels can make attractive features in a border. Finches are seed eaters and can often arrive in flocks during late summer to plunder seed pods. Other birds prefer to search through leaf litter or mulch for their food as many insects will quickly colonise these places. If you can leave a corner of the garden undisturbed with a selection of old pots and rotting wood, you will attract slugs and snails (food for hedgehogs, toads, many birds and other small carnivorous mammals). The addition of a sheet of corrugated iron with the sun beating on it is a favourite retreat for snakes and slow worms.

To encourage wildlife to your garden is a great start, but you should also remember to keep them safe while they visit, just like children. Avoid using pesticides and strong chemicals, and take care when mowing the lawn or lighting bonfires that no wildlife has quietly taken up residence overnight.

Learn more about this author, Silva Payne.
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