Here’s how to attract wildlife into the garden:

#1 – Feed the birds – Use apples, peanuts, seeds, and fat balls and watch the number of wild birds in your garden increase. Feeding the wild birds is even more important in the winter when food supplies are scarce. And don’t forget fresh water as birds do have a need to drink as well.

#2 – Make a habitat – Make or put up habitats for your nature friends. This includes birdhouses and shelters for birds as well as hedgehogs, butterflies, bees and other insects. You can find plenty of choices at the garden center or simply make your own with a little wood and a few other materials.

#3 – Plant wild flowers – Meadow or wild flowers look lovely and natural in the garden but also serve to attract a large number of friendly insects from butterflies to ladybugs to bees and birds, wildflowers will really help the abundance of wildlife in your garden.

You can order simple seed packets online or purchase them at your garden center. These are very easy to grow as they are used to growing under the most natural conditions. This also means that you won’t have to worry about watering a certain patch of your garden, which in turn helps the environment.

#4 – Build a wildlife pond – This doesn’t have to be fancy or a big task. A simple standard size plant pot will do. Choose one without a hole in the bottom. Make a hole in the ground roughly the size of the pot and insert the pot into the ground so only one inch or so of the pot is sticking out of the ground. Insert a few large rocks in the bottom of the pot (this will help frogs and other water animals have a place to support themselves on). Fill with water.

Then plant several water plants in the pot – Mentha cervina and Nasturtium aquaticum are good choices but your local garden center staff can easily help you choose appropriate ones too. Sit back and observe the aquatic wildlife flourish. Remember to always use precautions if young children will be using the garden.

# 5 – Don’t be a manicurist – The best way to attract and keep wildlife into your garden is to leave it a bit “natural.” Let certain corners of the garden become a little woodsy or overgrown – wildlife thrives in these conditions. When your trees lose their leaves don’t pick them all up. Piles of leaves are great habitats for hedgehogs and other nature creatures.

Your garden can easily become an enchanting place for wildlife. If in doubt of where to begin, simply take a leaf out of nature and let your garden reflect that as much as possible.