As we look forward to the festive season, albeit a slightly different one. Nature just carries on, oblivious to the problems encountered by our human species! Living one day at a time and during these harsher winter months, doing everything it can to survive.
When you’re out for a seasonal stroll, take time to remind yourself how lucky we actually are. In the face of some of the most difficult and trying times, we tend to take for granted how relatively easy and convenient our lives usually are. Yes, things are tough right now, but we’ll get through and everything will again reach a sense of normality.
Sadly, our UK wildlife is in real trouble, habitat loss and fragmentation being a major cause for concern. But despite these terrible losses, we can all still do some things to make a real difference. If you put all the gardens in the UK together, for instance, it would equate to an area of 430 thousand hectares (that’s a fifth the size of Wales!). If every garden in the UK made even a small space for nature, together it would create a massive, often interconnected, series of habitats essential for wildlife.
Helping wildlife at home
So do look at your own patch and think how you can help. Explore our website for further information and inspiration on what you could achieve even in the smallest of spaces. There are RHS guides on wildlife friendly planting as well as some help with habitat creation. Now is the ideal time to build a new pond, put up a nest box or to plant a hedgerow or tree, think about the type of wildlife you’d like to encourage and what could attract them to your own special place.
In winter it’s particularly important to put out bird food and fresh water to get them through the cold weather, when natural food is scarce. And, on a gloomy cold day, nothing beats sitting down and being rewarded watching our beautiful feathered friends enjoying some treats just feet away. Your own cozy bird hide with festive drinks and snacks on tap!