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Most wildlife is still hibernating at this time of year. If it's mild enough you may spot early bumblebees (temps over 10c) or hedgehogs.
The best way to attract more wildlife to your garden over the following year is to create habitats where wildlife can get water, feed, sleep, sunbath and hibernate.
Here is what you can do in February.
You'll know you've got hedgehogs when you spot their poop (long, thin and dark brown) and it will be everywhere.
Leave out a bowl of water and meat based dog or cat food (chicken flavoured) to help fatten up the hedgehogs. The best time to do this is from dusk, cover or discard any that is left over in the morning to prevent flies laying their eggs in it.
Birds will start looking for places to raise their young in mid February. Early February is the time to give them a good clean. Boil up a kettle of water and pour the hot water over the inside and outside of the box. Leave it to dry out before hanging it back up, preferably in a north-east position.
This is a great time of year to buy bare-root bushes, which are far cheaper than pot grown, to create a hedge. Native hedges are popular with wildlife enthusiasts, such as dog rose, guelder rose, hawthorn, hazel, blackthorn (can spread from suckering roots), and wild plum. These will provide a variety of food, shelter and breeding opportunities for a huge range of wildlife.
If you haven't already got these growing from the ground in your garden, now is the time to buy them in pots to feed bumblebees who have been woken early.
It is best to leave the compost heap alone until April as frogs, small mammals and insects may be hibernating within them.
Birds pretty much need extra food all year around, you'll find certain times of the year are busier than others, but in colder weather they will need a bit of a helping hand so a variety of protein and fat rich foods will be appreciated by them.
Pick a nice day to look around your garden. For those itching to get into the garden on those rare but exceptional, sunny February days, there are plenty of reasons to go and make the most of them. Have a bug hunt, see what is hibernating and what plants are starting to sprout, it will make you feel wonderful and get your body ready and looking forward to spring - remember you are also part of the wildlife.
February Is All About Pruning, Cleaning, Protecting, Planning & Preparing...
You could prune, clean and protect your plants, but if you want a wildlife space then that area will need to be left alone. Do not tidy as there are insects hiding in all that untidyness that will fed the birds, while the leaf litter, dying stems and dropped branches will feed the ground.
Again you could remove dead, mouldy, diseased and crossing branches. But, even though it probably is a good idea to remove disease if you only dedicate part of your garden to wildlife, only prune if the plant is taking over public spaces or roadways. But generally wildlife doesn't care how tidy a bush or tree is, as long as it gives them protection. Wild Bees need old and dead trees to nest in, and the ground needs decaying leaf, stems and branches to fed it.
Sweep and clear any paths or walkways in your garden, this will prevent them from becoming a slippery hazard. But it will also reduce the number of weeds that are trying to get an early foothold in the gaps - a weed is just a flower in the wrong place.
Now is the time to get your garden ready for spring, by doing some preparation and planning.
If the ground is free of puddles and ice: In the wild there would be animals, such as pigs, who would dig and turn the soil. Horses would leave manure behind. Cows would spread seed. It's likely that you don't have either of these, so you need to replace the functions of these animals. It's ok to dig and turn your soil, this helps air to circulate, move any seeds in the soil around, and allowing leaf, stems and branches to be buried which will fed the ground. It's ok to add in your own homemade compost, it's ok to add in horse manure as long as the horse hasn't been treated with any chemicals that would unbalance your soil or harm insects, such as flea treatments and antibiotics.
There is also a movement towards no dig which advocates not disturbing roots and the beasties that live in the soil. You could also try this out on a section of your garden as an experiment to see what happens.
Variety is key to supporting nature and wildlife. The best thing you can do to get started is add a tree (preferably fruiting), add water, have a pile of logs on the ground, don't use pesticides.
From there add as wide a variety of plants and flowers of differing heights, including ground covering plants.
Wild, cultivated, native, non-native are all good choices. But the best thing you can do for the environment is having the right plant in the right location, this means you don't have to change or improve your soil, and the plant can manage on the rain fall in your area.
It's a good idea to add wildflowers to your garden as they are becoming an endangered species, by adding them and collecting seeds and re-sowing the following year helps keep these flowers in our lives and hopefully they will be there for following generations.
To improve your garden for wildlife doesn't mean you have to have a scruffy looking garden, so don't beat yourself up if you choose to have mainly short grass as there are insects that like short grass, or want the edges to look tidy, or you want to deadhead plants because you want more flowers which gives bees a longer feeding period. Every plant you add goes a long way in helping wildlife.
Wildlife gardening jobs for January
Wildlife gardening jobs for March
Wildlife gardening jobs April
Wildlife gardening jobs May
Wildlife gardening jobs June
Wildlife gardening jobs July
Wildlife gardening jobs for August
Wildlife gardening jobs for November
Wildlife gardening jobs for December
How to attract birds to your garden
How to attract bees to your garden
Sowing and growing wildflowers
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