Wildlife Gardening

Learn how to help your local wildlife from the comfort of your own home. With over 15 million gardens in Britain, covering an area larger than all our national nature reserves put together, what we choose to do with our gardens really does matter for nature.

No matter the size of the area you are looking after or how much gardening experience you have, we can all do more to help our local wildlife.

The first step to helping our wildlife is to change our mindset and think of our gardens as part of a much wider picture.  Yes, they are man-made areas, but they have the potential to be much more than just a place that we can enjoy on a sunny day. An oldie, but still a goodie read for anyone wanting to learn more about wildlife gardening is “Creating Environmentally Friendly Gardens” by Bob Davis in 2002.

Whether in a city centre or the countryside, our gardens can act as mini nature reserves for local wildlife, as well as form habitat corridors – bridging gaps between surrounding areas of habitat.

We hope our Wildlife Gardening page helps you think outside the box and be creative with your garden.

Photo of three species of pollinating insects on a native yellow flower to help local wildlife

Three species of pollinating insects on Tansy © John Malster

“Ugly or beautiful, it is the little creatures that make the world go round. We should celebrate and appreciated them in all their wonderful diversity.”  – Dave Goulson


An example of wildlife gardening, using the ecosystem approach

An Ecosystem Approach

Learn more about an ecosystem approach to gardening is and why it’s important

Small ponds are better than no ponds - Simon Ferrar

Ponds – Adding Water

As small as a bucket or as large as a loch, every garden will benefit from the inclusion of a pond.

Top tips from Wildlife Gardeners

Want to become a wildlife gardener but aren’t sure where to start? We have asked our community for their top tips on wildlife gardening so you don’t have too.

Leafcutter Bee in a bamboo canes

Animal Homes

Learn more about the importance of adding different animal homes to your garden

Putting out bird feeders is a great way to bring wildlife to your garden.

Providing Food

All living things require food to survive, and sometimes they need a little bit of help from us.

picture of Yellow Flag Iris close up with a soldier beetle on the flower

Wildlife Gardening Talk with Q&A

Learn more about wildlife gardening by watching our Wildlife Gardening talk with Q&A

Wildlife gardening can be as simple as planting ox-eye daisies and other native plants.

Native Plants

A few tips on different native plants, how to collect their seed or where to get them from

Other tools and resources

There are lots of tools and resources to help you on your wildlife gardening journey.

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel to watch all of our videos on how how communities and organisations help natureWildlife Gardening Videos

Watch our Wildlife Gardening Playlist for tips for beginner gardens, how to collect yellow rattle seeds, how to grow wildflower seed and so much more!

Not quite found what you are looking for?

Still have questions? Not to worry, we have an amazing community of wildlife gardeners on Facebook that are happy to help! Head over to NESBiP’s Wildlife Gardening Group and join now.

By becoming a member of our Wildlife Gardening Group, it gives you the opportunity to:

  • – Ask other wildlife gardeners questions
  • – Share you experiences and knowledge with other
  • – Get some inspiration from other gardeners
  • – Build a community!

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