Your garden, your green living room

Did you know that many insects have a preference for certain types of plants?

• Lavender: A paradise for bees – they love the fragrant blooms!
• Avens: Draws bees, butterflies, and ladybirds to your green space with its abundant nectar and pollen.
• Coneflower: A favourite of both bees and butterflies.

Unfortunately, populations of many insect species are declining worldwide, mainly due to habitat loss, pesticide use and other environmental pressures.

We would like to encourage you to create a suitable habitat for insects in your garden. This can be achieved by growing flowering plants, avoiding pesticides and providing shelter such as insect hotels.

1. Cultivate insect-friendly plants: Choose a variety of native flowers, herbs and shrubs that attract insects. These plants serve as a food source for pollinators such as bees, butterflies and beetles.
2. Create shelter and breeding sites: Integrate elements such as rock piles, dead wood, insect hotels and butterfly houses into your garden to provide safe havens and breeding sites for insects.
3. Reduce grass cutting: Let parts of your garden grow wild and minimise frequent grass cutting. This creates habitats and food sources for numerous insect species.

• Provide shelter: Hedgehogs need safe and secluded areas to rest during the day and later to hibernate. Create hedgehog-friendly shelters with piles of wood, heaps of leaves or special hedgehog houses. Make sure the shelter is dry, well ventilated and protected from predators.
• Create safe corridors: Hedgehogs roam great distances at night. Make sure they can reach your garden by leaving small gaps in fences and boundaries. This allows hedgehogs to roam freely between gardens in search of food and mates. A hedgehog gate is also a great way to make it easier for your prickly friends to explore.
• Promote insects: Hedgehogs play an important role in regulating insect populations. Support them by planting a variety of native flowers, shrubs and grasses that attract insects such as beetles, caterpillars and earthworms – hedgehogs' favourite snacks.

By creating a hedgehog-friendly garden, you not only contribute to the hedgehogs' well-being, but also create a lively and sustainable environment in which other animal species can flourish. These small changes not only benefit the hedgehogs, but also promote the health and diversity of local ecosystems.

While hedgehogs love to devour insects living on the ground, bats forage in the air to feed on flying insects. Hedgehogs eat beetles, larvae and the like, while the masters of aerial hunting like to prey on mosquitoes and moths. The connection between hedgehogs and bats shows how different animal species complement each other in different ways in our ecosystems. Each species plays a unique role that ultimately contributes to the balance and health of our ecosystems.

Most bat species are nocturnal and feed on insects. By eating large quantities of insects, bats help to control populations of harmful insects. In this way, they help to reduce pest infestations in agricultural areas and gardens. 

In addition, some bat species are also important pollinators of plants. They carry pollen from one flower to another and are indispensable for the reproduction and diversity of many plant species.  

Unfortunately, many bat species are threatened with extinction or are highly endangered worldwide. Threats to bats primarily include the loss of their habitat and the use of pesticides. 

Bat boxes serve as artificial dwellings for these active nocturnal creatures. These boxes offer the bats a protected space to rest, roost and raise their young. They are available in various sizes and designs to meet the different needs of numerous bat species. Placing bat boxes in suitable habitats such as forests, gardens or parks can help to support bat populations.

In order to promote the conservation of these fascinating winged creatures, it is important to protect their habitats, which are crucial for foraging and reproduction. By trying to understand bats and considering their needs, we can help to preserve these mysterious fluttering creatures.

• Provide food: Plant squirrel-friendly trees and shrubs in your garden that produce nuts, seeds and fruit. For example, squirrels like hazelnut bushes and walnut trees. You can also set up special feeders with unsalted nuts, sunflower seeds and dried fruit.
• Be careful when mowing the lawn: Take care when mowing the lawn so you don't disturb squirrels' hiding places. Check the lawn for signs of activity before mowing.
• Watch out for pets: Keep pets such as cats away from squirrels as they can be a potential danger to these small animals.

Squirrels are also popular subjects for nature enthusiasts to watch who admire their acrobatic skills and playful behaviour. By protecting their habitats and providing food sources, we can help to ensure that these fascinating animals continue to live in our forests and gardens.

• Plant selection: Choose a variety of native plants that provide food, shelter and nesting opportunities for birds. Opt for shrubs, trees and perennials that produce berries and seeds. 

• Create shelter: Put up nesting boxes that can serve as nesting sites for various bird species. Make sure they are well protected and safe from predators.

• Feeding: Provide bird food in special feeders or feeding stations, especially in the winter months when natural food sources are scarce.

• Provide safety: Make sure your garden is safe for birds by marking glass panels to prevent your garden birds from injuring themselves.