Feeding Garden Birds Through The British Seasons

Flower choice makes a real difference. Single-flowered varieties expose their pollen and nectar openly, whereas heavily double-petalled blooms often hide or lack it altogether. Planting in drifts rather than single specimens also helps, since it gives foraging insects a more efficient source to work through.

Leaving a few deliberately untidy corners does more good than a uniformly neat border. A patch of long grass, a stack of logs left to slowly rot down, and leaf litter left in place over winter all provide shelter for insects, amphibians and small mammals that a fully cleared garden simply cannot offer.

Placement decides whether the house gets used at all. A fixed position at around waist to head height, facing south or south-east to catch the morning sun, and sheltered from driving rain and strong wind, gives insects the stable conditions they need. Once occupied, the house is best left undisturbed through the nesting and overwintering period.

Feeding is straightforward but worth getting right. Meaty cat or dog food, or a specialist hedgehog food, is a better choice than bread and milk, which can cause digestive upset. A shallow dish of fresh water left out overnight is just as useful as food, particularly during dry spells in summer.

Hedgehogs typically hibernate through the coldest months, often in piles of leaves, log stacks, or purpose-built shelters tucked into a quiet corner. Anything resembling a bonfire pile should always be checked carefully before lighting, since it can look like an ideal hibernation spot to a hedgehog settling in insect houses for garden pollinators winter.

Garden birds face different pressures depending on the time of year, and supplementary feeding is most valuable during two periods in particular: the late winter to early spring hungry gap, when natural food is scarce, and the breeding season, when adults are feeding hungry chicks.