Wildlife Friendly Garden Awards

How to do it in the smallest garden

Even if you have only a tiny back garden you can still make a difference and earn yourself a Wildlife Friendly Garden Award; here we tell you how.

Nectar-rich flowers
You can grow flowers to produce nectar for bees and butterflies in relatively small containers. Place tubs of flowers around your backyard or patio, and as a bonus they will look lovely all summer. Good container choices include lavender, rosemary, hebe and red valerian. For early spring colour and nectar tuck in a few bulbs of grape hyacinth, crocus and daffodils. Many annuals will grow well in containers, such as marigolds, alyssum, verbena, candytuft and nasturtium.

Trellis
Climbing plants are a great way to bring colour and life to a small space. As well as being a nectar source a well-grown climber can provide nest sites for wrens and robins, and hibernation homes for many invertebrates. In a small garden a trellis can give you shade and privacy as well as sheltering wildlife.

If your trellis is over a patio, removing a single paving slab can be enough to allow a climber to root. Suitable plants include honeysuckle, clematis and ivy. A number of shrubs will grow happily trained up a wall, these include pyracantha, berberis, cotoneaster and rambling roses.

Growing Vegetables
Growing some of your own food reduces your carbon footprint, and so aids the whole environment. If you haven’t got much space concentrate on herbs and high-value salad crops. A medium-sized container can grow a herb garden of chives, thyme, rosemary, marjoram, mint and wild strawberry. A grow-bag can be used to grow tomatoes, cucumbers, strawberries, or a summer-long supply of lettuce.

Bird nest box
A bird box can be attached to any way, to the side of a shed or garage, or attached to a trellis. The only sites that are not suitable are those in full sunlight during the hottest part of the day, or facing into the prevailing winds. To build your own nest box download our Homes for Birds information sheet.

Bird feeder and bird bath
A surprising number of birds will come into urban gardens. Birds can travel between gardens quickly and easily, so will visit even the smallest garden if you make it worth their while. Brackets are available to hang bird feeders from walls; you can even get feeders which stick to a window, giving you a close view of feathered visitors.

Water is essential for birds, especially in frosty weather. A small shallow pan of water is all they need for drinking and bathing.

Worm composting
A small garden may not have space for a full-sized compost bin. Why not consider a worm composter – these are much smaller, but the worms will still process all your food scraps and kitchen waste. The resulting compost will be very fertile, ideal for those tubs of flowers and vegetables.

Ponds
Even a small pond can be valuable to wildlife. On a small patio try creating a pond in a half-barrel (or in an old bath if you want to recycle). Plant it up with a couple of our smaller native pond plants and wait for damselflies, pond skaters and water beetles to move in.

Peat free
Peat is extracted from our lowland bogs, thereby damaging or destroying one of our rarest, most fragile and most unusual habitats. There are plenty of good-quality peat-free composts available to fill your raised beds and containers. Even better, use your own home-made compost.

Invertebrate habitat
There are many attractive invertebrate homes available, for solitary bees, ladybirds, lacewings and others. Even better, make your own from old garden canes, hollow plant stems or a block of wood with holes drilled in it. For more ideas have a look at our Invertebrate Homes information sheet.

Water butt
Plants growing in containers will need daily watering in a hot summer. If space is very limited you can now get slim-line water butts, which allow you to collect rainwater while taking up a minimum of space.

Small tree or shrub
Very few gardens don’t have space for a single small tree. For best value choose a tree with blossom in spring, attractive fruits or berries in autumn and interesting foliage. The native hawthorn is a lovely tree which is home to many invertebrates and won’t grow too big for your garden.

Applying for your Award

You can Apply for your Award by post or Email