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Wildlife in your
school garden
Jobs to do and things to look out for

Winter Wildlife to look out for

in Winter
Spring Wildlife to look out for
in Spring
Chaffinch Blackbird
1 Build or put up a bird box. 1 Top up bird feeders and put food out on the
Great tit Brimstone butterfly
ground and bird table.
2 Put out fat-rich food for birds, such as fat Holly leaf-mining fly Collared dove
blocks and cut up bacon rind. (look for the distinctive mines) 2 Regularly clean bird baths and tables. Frogs, toads and newts
Nuthatch (and frog/toad spawn)
3 Store bonfire wood in a different spot to Rabbits 3 Buy and hang a bee nesting box. Hoverflies
where it will be burned to protect frogs and Robin Ladybirds
hedgehogs that may shelter there. Song thrush 4 Put out hedgehog food such as cat/dog food Lily beetle
Winter moth (including dry food) chopped peanuts and Moles (and mole hills)
4 Make an open-bottomed compost bin to raisins. Dont forget water.
Winter visitor thrushes, Newts
encourage slow worms and grass snakes.
such as Redwing and Fieldfare 5 Make your pond more wildlife friendly by Orange-tip butterfly
5 Hang up and fill bird feeders. Woodlice creating sloping sides and putting in marginal Peacock butterfly
plants. Pond skaters
6 Fill the birdbath and keep it free of ice. Queen bumblebee
6 Create log, twig and /or rock piles to Snails
7 Replace a fence with a mixed hedge. provide shelter for wildlife.
8 Plant a mixture of native and 7 Sow/plant a wildlife meadow.
non-native trees and shrubs that
provide flowers, berries and fruit. 8 Put up a bat nesting/roosting box.
9 Dig soil in vegetable garden to expose 9 Sow/plant annuals and perennials
pest larvae and eggs to birds. to attract insects.
Nuthatch
10 Dig a wildlife pond, creating different 10 Take care not to disturb nesting
Frog

depths and gently sloping sides. birds in garden shrubs and hedges.
11 Study identification guides on birds, insects, Woodlice
Mole hills
wild flowers, etc to improve your knowledge
of garden wildlife.

Summer Wildlife to look out for

in Summer Autumn Wildlife to look out for
in Autumn
Ants Blue tit
1 Trim hedges less frequently to allow wildlife Bats 1 Clean out birdbaths and keep topped up. Crane flies / daddy long-legs
to shelter and feed. Delay until autumn if Cabbage white butterflies Earthworms
birds are nesting. Centipedes 2 Leave some seedheads standing rather Earwig
Cinnabar moth caterpillars than cutting them back to provide food Field/redwing
2 Use wildlife-friendly slug pellets if chemical and shelter.
(on ragwort) (autumn migrant birds)
slug control is needed.
Dragonflies Grey Squirrel
Goldfinch 3 Create overwintering sites, such as leaf Jay
3 Dont deadhead roses if you want hips mounds and log piles, for a range of
(seed pods), a favourite of many birds. Grasshoppers Millipedes
insects, reptiles, amphibians and mammals.
House martin Orb web spiders
4 Mow spring flowering meadows once bulb House sparrow 4 Red admiral butterfly
Give meadows a final cut before the
foliage has died down usually from July. Magpie winter, aiming for 7.5cm height and letting Shield bugs
Swallow the clippings lie for a couple of days Starling
5 Plant marigolds around the vegetable Wasps Wood pigeon
before raking.
patch to attract hoverflies. Wren
6 Watch out for young frogs and toads 5 Leave mature ivy uncut if possible as it
leaving the pond in mid summer. is an excellent source of nectar and
pollen for insects.
7 Plant annuals and perennials to
attract insects. 6 Make a leaf pile for hibernating
mammals and ground
8 Allow seedheads to develop Cinnabar moth caterpilla
rs feeding birds.
on some plants as a source of Blue tit
food for birds. 7 Clean out nest boxes so that birds
can shelter inside during the winter.
9 Summer meadows may be ready Grey squirrel
for cutting. Dragonfly 8 Try building a hedgehog
hibernation box.

Photography: RHS/Carol Sheppard; RHS/Andrew Halstead; RHS/John Trenholm; RHS/Katy Prentice; Michael Ballard. Illustrations: Atticmedia

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