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 Ornithologyopens in a new window

🐥 The RSPBopens in a new window

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 Trustopens in a new window provide advice on encouraging batsopens in a new window.

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

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

🦔 Hedgehog Streetopens in a new window provide advice on helping hedgehogs, including toolkits to get startedopens in a new window.

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:

🐞 Buglifeopens in a new window 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)opens in a new window.
• Brownfields are important habitats for invertebrates, and you can learn about brownfield management advice for butterflies, flies, ground beetles and scarce bumblebeesopens in a new window.
• Habitat management adviceopens in a new window for a range of habitats and settings.
• Wildlife gardening adviceopens in a new window – 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 Conservationopens in a new window is a charity working to protect butterflies, moths and their habitats. Some of their resources include:

• Information on gardening for butterflies and mothsopens in a new window.
• Habitat creationopens in a new window for butterflies and moths.
• Urban habitat resourcesopens in a new window for butterflies and moths.
• A guide to woodland management for butterflies and mothsopens in a new window.

🐝 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-friendlyopens in a new window.

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

🪵 The People’s Trust for Endangered Speciesopens in a new window have a stag beetle campaign, with advice on creating log pilesopens in a new window 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 Trustopens in a new window

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

💧 The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trustopens in a new window set out how to create garden ponds, bog gardens and rain gardensopens in a new window.

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 Conservationopens in a new window

• Creating garden ponds for wildlifeopens in a new window (created with Freshwater Habitats Trust).
• Habitat management for amphibiansopens in a new window – includes a link to a detailed handbook at the bottom of the page.
• Dragons in your Gardenopens in a new window – advice on making your garden better for amphibians and reptiles.
• Habitat management for reptilesopens in a new window – 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)opens in a new window.

🐸 Froglifeopens in a new window

• Just add water: how to build a wildlife pond (PDF 8.5MB)opens in a new window.
• Creating habitatsopens in a new window – on this page you can find advice sheets for creating features like a bog garden (PDF 2.2 MB)opens in a new window, hibernaculum (PDF 5.7KB)opens in a new window and log pile (PDF 1MB)opens in a new window.
• Pond visualiser appopens in a new window – 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 Trustopens in a new window

• Garden Pond Advice Hubopens in a new window – there are additional resources linked at the bottom of the page too.
• Pond Creation Toolkitopens in a new window – several documents giving advice on creating a pond and the management required.
• Pond Management Hubopens in a new window – 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:

🌱 Plantlifeopens in a new window 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 spacesopens in a new window.
• Waxcaps and grassland fungi: a guide to identification and management (PDF 2.4MB)opens in a new window.
• Plantlife Meadows’ Hubopens in a new window – 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)opens in a new window: a great resource with lots of information about creating flower-rich grassland.
• Save our Magnificent Meadowsopens in a new window – this is a partnership led by Plantlife which provides some advice around grassland managementopens in a new window and meadow creationopens in a new window.
• 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 Societyopens in a new window have researched which plants support pollinators the best. You can learn more on their websiteopens in a new window.

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:

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

• The step by step guide to tree and hedge plantingopens in a new window.
• A guide to hedge planting and growingopens in a new window.
• Video showing how to plant trees and hedgerowsopens in a new window (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 bumblebeesopens in a new window, hedgehogsopens in a new window and dead wood insects (PDF 1.2 MB)opens in a new window.

🌳 The Woodland Trustopens in a new window have a useful article about managing hedgerowsopens in a new window, 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 treeopens in a new window – The Wildlife Trusts
• Tree planting adviceopens in a new window – The Woodland Trust. Scroll down to find advice for different scenarios.

🌳 The Orchard Projectopens in a new window have a range of guides and adviceopens in a new window 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 Speciesopens in a new window provide orchard practical guidesopens in a new window and a guide to wildlife and management of traditional orchards (PDF 741KBopens in a new window. 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 Trustsopens in a new window have a basic guide to managing woodland for wildlifeopens in a new window to get you started.

🌳 The Woodland Trustopens in a new window provide a guide to managing your new woodlandopens in a new window if you have a newly planted woodland to care for. They also explain some different types of woodland managementopens in a new window. 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 RSPBopens in a new window, People’s Trust for Endangered Speciesopens in a new window, the Royal Horticultural Societyopens in a new window 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 Trustsopens in a new window have a great ‘actions for nature’ pageopens in a new window 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.