Got a small outside space at home? You can still make it wildlife friendly.
Even if you’ve only got a window box, that box could make a difference.
Evie Button, a wildlife specialist at the RSPCA says: ‘As the evenings get lighter and weather warms up, people are starting to spend more time outdoors, and with that, we start to see more wildlife.
‘Wildlife is under threat, but we all have the power to change that.
‘We all share our neighbourhoods with wonderful wildlife and we need to protect them, so we’re asking people to become a Wildlife Friend and learn how they can make a safe space for the animals who share their world.’
All of us can do little things to help the creatures and critters in our neighbourhood.
The RSPCA’s eight ways to aid wildlife from a balcony, communal garden or even a window box:
- Attract beautiful butterflies to your garden or balcony with a colourful DIY fruit and nectar feeder. They’re pollinators, like bees, so they’re vital for increasing biodiversity by providing food and flowers for other animals.
- Collect leftover apple cores or place a bird seed fat ball in a hanging bird feeder and safely hang from your balcony or window box and wait for the wildlife to flock.
- Pop a wide, shallow bowl of water outside on the balcony or patio for birds and bees to bathe and drink. You may even see a visiting bat come to drink.
- Don’t throw away certain leftovers that might make a tasty, healthy snack for wild birds too – cooked pasta and rice, or boiled potatoes are an option.
- Suitable seeds and grains like oats, sunflower seeds, nyjer seeds and millet. Place them in a bird feeder.
- Invite a friend, family member or colleague over and build a hedgehog house or a nesting box – it’s straightforward and fun, and provides a habitat for small mammals and birds.
- Create a “pollinator pot paradise” on your balcony or even in a window box planter, to encourage pollinators bees and butterflies to thrive. Foxglove, birdsfoot trefoil and musk mallow are great for attracting pollinators.
- Explore the RSPCA’s online interactive garden to find how to attract wildlife to your garden and learn how to help wild animals at different times of year.’
‘The RSPCA has a garden at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show which is modern and stylish,’ says Evie, ‘but crucially it’s going to inspire people with ways that they can create their own wildlife sanctuary at home – no matter what size their outdoor space is.’
The charity’s garden at the show, created in partnership with designer Martyn Wilson of Wilson Associates Garden Design, will also celebrate the RSPCA’s forthcoming 200th anniversary in 2024.
Parts of it are inspired by the RSPCA teams and volunteers who work hard rescuing, rehabilitating and releasing thousands of wild animals each year.
The charity hopes the display will also inspire people to encourage wildlife into their own gardens at home and to do what they can to protect them from harm.
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