Helping wildlife to help us.

From building hedgehog homes and creating wildlife ponds to planting wildlife meadows and helping to protect our bumblebees. If you are interesting in wildlife and would like to learn how you can help them to help us, there is a wealth of free information and advice at your fingertips.

Natural England: http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/advice/wildlifegardening/

"Everyone can be a wildlife gardener. Whether you are an expert gardener or simply enjoy growing plants on a patio, in a few tubs or on an allotment, there is lots you can do to encourage wildlife to visit. The UK's 15 million gardens already provide important homes for wildlife, but we can do so much more. Many creatures that are declining in the countryside, such as the common frog, song thrush and hedgehog, can thrive in domestic gardens and other areas if we provide the right conditions for them"

Bumblebee Conservation: http://bumblebeeconservation.org/get-involved/gardening-for-bees

How to create gardens which can provide bee-friendly flowers that are rich in pollen and nectar.

"In the last 80 years our bumblebee populations have crashed. Two species have become nationally extinct and several others have declined dramatically.Bumblebees are familiar and much-loved insects that pollinate our crops and wildflowers, so people are rightly worried. We have a vision for a different future in which our communities and countryside are rich in bumblebees and colourful flowers, supporting a diversity of wildlife and habitats for everyone to enjoy"

RSPB: http://www.rspb.org.uk/advice/gardening/

"Planning and creating a wildlife-friendly garden. A good wildlife garden is more than just a corner of a garden left to go wild. Whether you want to create a new garden, or have an existing one, patio or balcony, try to imagine your garden is a nature reserve and you are the warden"

Butterfly Conservation: http://butterfly-conservation.org/292/gardening.html

"Gardens can act as important stepping stones between nature reserves and other natural habitat by offering abundant supplies of nectar. Butterflies will visit any garden, however small, if they can feed from suitable nectar plants and a well thought out garden can attract up to 18 species of butterfly. If you manage your patch to create breeding habitat you may see even more"

The Wildlife Trusts: http://www.wildlifetrusts.org/how-you-can-help/wildlife-gardening

"Making space for nature in your garden. Go wild in your garden! Large or small, ledge or yard, your garden can be a mosaic in a wider network of natural havens linking urban green spaces with nature reserves and the countryside"

Plantlife: http://www.plantlife.org.uk/things_to_do/grow_wild/wildmeadow/

"Wildflower meadows have become increasingly rare in our countryside, with 97% of them lost since the 1940s. So its perhaps no surprise that gardeners enjoy recreating these beautiful habitats. Encouraging a slice of the wild in your garden can be a satisfying way of attracting a wide diversity of birds, bees, butterflies and other wildlife, and whilst it is no substitute for taking better care of these habitats in the wild, it helps to remind us how important it is to take care of what is left"