Garden for life

Our gardens can be great for birds, insects and other animals, and it's easy to help wildlife thrive in your garden, allotment or window box.

What you do in your garden can help protect and improve biodiversity for future generations.  Helping biodiversity in your own garden can help biodiversity in the surrounding area.  For example, if you encourage bees and other insects, these can help pollination of crops on farmland nearby.

Plants can be used to create havens for wildlife. Doing things like clearing up leaves and weeds later in the year, or leaving woodpiles over the winter, can help attract a variety of wildlife all year round for you to enjoy.

What you can do to help

There are lots of things you can do. You can plant wildlife-friendly trees, shrubs and flowers. You can use part of your garden to grow some of your own vegetables and fruit - as well as being healthy and tasting great, home-grown food reduces the pollution caused by transporting food hundreds of miles to supermarkets.

The BBC Breathing Places  campaign has produced a list of simple, easy things you can do to help wildlife in your garden.

Another good source of ideas and information is Garden for Life  . This information includes leaflets about gardening for life, gardening for butterflies and for birds, gardening in pots and containers, gardening for food and gardening without peat.