Wildlife gardening jobs for November

BBC Gardeners' World Magazine

Published: Wednesday, 4 November 2020 at 9:49 am

Help the wildlife in your garden with our top wildlife jobs for November.

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With winter around the corner, it's time to prepare your garden to help wildlife get through winter.

Ample food and shelter are especially important – try making winter beetle stacks, hedgehog houses and hibernaculums for frogs.

Discover our top wildlife gardening jobs for November, below.

Leave seedheads

Leave the seedheads of herbaceous plants, such as fennel, Verbena bonariensis, teasel and echinacea, for birds such as house sparrows and goldfinches. You can also leave alone plants with attractive seedheads, to provide winter interest.

Attractive brown, spiky teasel seedheads

Leave ivy alone

Don't cut mature ivy back, where possible, as the flowers provide a fantastic source of nectar and pollen for late-flying insects. Later in the season the berries will provide food for birds, while the leaves offer roosting and hibernation shelter for many species, including the brimstone butterfly. Here are more ways to make your garden bee-friendly in winter.

Golden-edged leaves of variegated ivy 'Halebob'

Plant crocus bulbs

Plant up a pot of nectar-rich crocuses now to feed hungry queen bumblebees in spring. Place the pot in a sunny spot and keep it watered. Read more about planting spring bulbs.

Stripy mauve and white blooms of crocus 'King of the Striped'

Create wildlife stacks

Use the prunings and clippings of shrubby material to create a dry wildlife stack, out of the way, such as behind a shed or at the back of a border. Any clippings can be used and the pile added to throughout autumn. For bigger logs, try creating a dead wood habitat.

Stacking woody prunings to provide shelter for wildlife

Stock up bird feeders

Keep bird feeders stocked up with peanuts, oil-rich seeds and suet products to help keep birds fed throughout winter. You could also make your own fat cat cakes or try creating a suet and nut log feeder.

Starling eating peanuts from a wire bird feeder

Don't miss out this Winter

Enjoy expert advice on what to plant and grow this winter, and how to prepare your plot for the year ahead. Enjoy, 6 months for just £31.99

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