Where to go for more advice on helping wildlife

Wild birds benefit from the planting of native hedgerows, tree and shrub species to provide a food source (such as fruits and nuts), and a sheltered place to nest. Providing suitable additional food in bird feeders or tables can also benefit many species, as can leaving water out for birds to drink and bathe.

You can find out more about providing for birds from:

🐥 The British Trust for Ornithology

🐥 The RSPB

From bats to hedgehogs and tiny harvest mice, the UK’s mammals have varied habitat requirements.

In general, providing a food source such as a hedgerow which produces nuts and berries, some shelter, a water source, and actions like growing your grassland longer can benefit small mammals such as voles and mice.

These organisations have some more targeted guidance for species you may come across in gardens and other green spaces in urban areas:

🦇 The Bat Conservation Trust provide advice on encouraging bats.

🦔 The People’s Trust for Endangered Species provide specific advice on managing green space in urban and suburban areas for hedgehogs (PDF 9.4MB).

🐀 They also have a guide about helping water voles on your land (this species can be found in some urban areas with suitable habitat).

🦔 Hedgehog Street provide advice on helping hedgehogs, including toolkits to get started.

The ways in which you can improve habitats for different groups of invertebrates are hugely varied. There are some key organisations in the UK publishing advice on how to benefit a range of invertebrates:

🐞 Buglife is a charity dedicated to the conservation of invertebrates. Their website includes resource such as:

• Advice on creating green roofs for invertebrates (PDF 5.9MB).
• Brownfields are important habitats for invertebrates, and you can learn about brownfield management advice for butterflies, flies, ground beetles and scarce bumblebees.
• Habitat management advice for a range of habitats and settings.
• Wildlife gardening advice – there are several downloadable guides in the top right of this linked page, such as how to create a dead wood pile for beetles and a bug hotel.

🐛 Butterfly Conservation is a charity working to protect butterflies, moths and their habitats. Some of their resources include:

• Information on gardening for butterflies and moths.
• Habitat creation for butterflies and moths.
• Urban habitat resources for butterflies and moths.
• A guide to woodland management for butterflies and moths.

🐝 The Bumblebee Conservation Trust provide guidance for helping bumblebees and solitary bees:

• Bee the change - quick, simple ways you can make your local area more bumblebee-friendly.

🦋 The Wildlife Trusts have set out some small actions you can take for insects, pollinators, bees and butterflies in their ‘help wildlife at home’ resources.

🪵 The People’s Trust for Endangered Species have a stag beetle campaign, with advice on creating log piles for the species.

Freshwater habitats are hugely varied: from ponds and lakes to ditches, streams and canals, these habitats can support a rich diversity of wildlife. Some of the organisations providing advice on how to create freshwater habitats or enhance existing habitats include:

💧 Freshwater Habitats Trust

• Garden Pond Advice Hub – there are additional resources linked at the bottom of the page too.
• Pond Creation Toolkit – several documents giving advice on creating a pond and the management required.
• Pond Management Hub – this includes links to a range of resources; don’t miss the additional ones at the bottom of the page.

💧 The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust set out how to create garden ponds, bog gardens and rain gardens.

Amphibians and reptiles often have overlapping habitat requirements: what is beneficial for amphibians will often also be good news for reptiles (and vice versa). Advice is therefore provided by many of the same organisations.

The basic habitat features amphibians need are: a suitable waterbody, good quality terrestrial habitat for foraging, and shelter and hibernation sites.

Reptiles cannot regulate their own body temperature, so they need to be able to bask in the sun and also avoid temperature extremes. In general, reptiles require access to sunny areas, shelter from the elements and predators, sufficient prey species, suitable places to breed or lay eggs, and somewhere to hibernate.

The organisations below are just some of those providing advice around pond creation and terrestrial habitats for amphibians, as well as habitats for reptiles:

🦎 Amphibian and Reptile Conservation

• Creating garden ponds for wildlife (created with Freshwater Habitats Trust).
• Habitat management for amphibians – includes a link to a detailed handbook at the bottom of the page.
• Dragons in your Garden – advice on making your garden better for amphibians and reptiles.
• Habitat management for reptiles – includes a link to a detailed handbook at the bottom of the page.
• Advice on making your garden better for grass snakes (PDF 2.2MB).

🐸 Froglife

• Just add water: how to build a wildlife pond (PDF 8.5MB).
• Creating habitats – on this page you can find advice sheets for creating features like a bog garden (PDF 2.2 MB), hibernaculum (PDF 5.7KB) and log pile (PDF 1MB).
• Pond visualiser app – this helps you see what different types of pond might look like in your green space. There are also some pond creation tips on the web page.

💧 Freshwater Habitats Trust

• Garden Pond Advice Hub – there are additional resources linked at the bottom of the page too.
• Pond Creation Toolkit – several documents giving advice on creating a pond and the management required.
• Pond Management Hub – this includes links to a range of resources; don’t miss the additional ones at the bottom of the page.

A lot of the advice around management of plants, fungi and their habitats focuses on how the habitats can be created and improved for different animal groups, such as pollinators, woodland animals or hedgerow species.

However, there are a couple of organisations providing guidance which concentrates more on the plants and their habitats:

🌱 Plantlife is the UK’s charity for wild plants and fungi. They provide a range of advice which is regularly updated, such as:

• Managing road verges and green spaces.
• Waxcaps and grassland fungi: a guide to identification and management (PDF 2.4MB).
• Plantlife Meadows’ Hub – this website tells you all you need to know about creating and managing meadows. The resources are applicable whether you have a few square metres of lawn or a large field to work with. The Hub includes The Good Meadow Guide (PDF 1.8MB): a great resource with lots of information about creating flower-rich grassland.
• Save our Magnificent Meadows – this is a partnership led by Plantlife which provides some advice around grassland management and meadow creation.
• Plantlife often provide lots of resources around ‘No Mow May’ every year, especially in relation to improving garden lawns for wildlife. Keep an eye out for these on their website in spring and summer.

🌱 The Royal Horticultural Society have researched which plants support pollinators the best. You can learn more on their website.

When it comes to planting trees and hedgerows, the key thing to remember is that you need to plant the right tree in the right place. It is important to choose species which are suited to your local soils, will tolerate the conditions on the site, and will provide resources for a range of local wildlife.

There is a lot of great advice on how to plant trees and hedgerows for wildlife in a range of settings, including:

🌳 Hedgelink provides hedgerow planting and management guidance, including for hedgerows in urban areas and gardens. You can browse lots of resources in the Hedge Hub, but here are a few good resources to start with:

• The step by step guide to tree and hedge planting.
• A guide to hedge planting and growing.
• Video showing how to plant trees and hedgerows (this is based in a rural setting, but is still useful for urban settings as the principles are the same).
• They also have more specific guides such as how to manage a hedge for bumblebees, hedgehogs and dead wood insects (PDF 1.2 MB).

🌳 The Woodland Trust have a useful article about managing hedgerows, including what species to plant to fill any gaps.

🌳 When it comes to tree planting, organisations like The Wildlife Trusts and Woodland Trust have some good advice on how to select tree species and how to plant and care for them:

• How to plant a tree – The Wildlife Trusts
• Tree planting advice – The Woodland Trust. Scroll down to find advice for different scenarios.

🌳 The Orchard Project have a range of guides and advice on how to plan and create a community orchard, and how to manage these habitats at different times of year for both people and wildlife.  

🌳 The People’s Trust for Endangered Species provide orchard practical guides and a guide to wildlife and management of traditional orchards (PDF 741KB. Although this focuses on traditional orchards, a lot of the advice is still relevant to other types, such as community orchards and orchards on allotments.  

🌳 The Wildlife Trusts have a basic guide to managing woodland for wildlife to get you started.

🌳 The Woodland Trust provide a guide to managing your new woodland if you have a newly planted woodland to care for. They also explain some different types of woodland management. What is best for your woodland will depend on the species present.

Many organisations signpost advice on creating and managing gardens (and other habitats) for wildlife: these include the RSPB, People’s Trust for Endangered Species, the Royal Horticultural Society and many others. From planting for pollinators and not using pesticides, to creating freshwater features and log piles, there are so many small actions you can take to benefit wildlife in your green space.

The Wildlife Trusts have a great ‘actions for nature’ page giving you ideas of simple things you can do to help wildlife. You can select a species group or theme and see what actions you can take to help each of them. You don’t even need a garden for a lot of these actions to be worthwhile, as many can be done on a balcony or in another outdoor space.