Supporting wildlife through winter

Winter can be a difficult season for birds, insects, and small mammals. As we venture out into the garden less and less and spend more time in our heated homes, the wildlife in our gardens faces a tough few months. As natural food sources become scarce and places to shelter become harder to find, it’s vital we consider how we can help. A great place to start is thoughtful planting, by choosing plants that offer food and protection through the colder months, we can turn our outdoor spaces into vital winter lifelines. 

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Winter Food Sources

Berry-bearing shrubs like holly, rowan, hawthorn, and cotoneaster hold onto their fruits well into winter. These berries are rich in nutrients and become crucial food for birds like thrushes, blackbirds, and robins. You can also ensure your local birds have a varied diet throughout the winter by providing high-fat snacks such as sunflower seeds and peanuts. 

You might also find the occasional bee on mild winter days, so including winter-flowering plants in your garden is a great way to make sure they have a readily available food source. Good options include hellebores, winter flowering heather, and bulbs such as crocuses and hyacinths. 

Leaving seed heads on some plants can also be great for local wildlife, teasel, echinacea and sunflower seed heads are a great food source for finches and sparrows. 

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Shelter and Safe Spaces 

Aside from food, wildlife in the garden will also be searching for protection from wind, rain, frost, and predators. Evergreen plants such as bay, juniper, box, and ivy offer thick, year-round cover for birds and small mammals. Their dense foliage acts as a warm refuge when the weather turns harsh. 

Fallen leaves, twigs, and dead plant stems can be some of the most important winter shelters for smaller creatures. A pile of leaves is a hibernation spot for hedgehogs. Hollow stems house resting solitary bees. A simple pile of spent foliage offers somewhere safe for animals like insects and frogs. 

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Small changes, big impact 

Supporting wildlife in winter doesn’t require a redesign. Being mindful of our actions goes a long way, simple things like leaving seed heads and choosing berry-bearing shrubs when plant shopping make a huge difference. 

As we find we are often the cause of natural habitat loss for these creatures, it is only right that it is our responsibility to reinstate these missing food sources and habitats into our gardens. Stepping back and letting your garden follow through with its natural annual processes, such as collecting fallen leaves, brings peace to the local wildlife and to your garden. We must remember that although we want our gardens just so, sometimes human intervention causes more harm that good, so next time you get the rake out, think about what a lovely home those leaves would make for a family of woodlice.