Hedgehog house by Gillian Day
Wildlife gardening in September
Hedgehog house by Gillian Day
Community Wildlife Officer Barbara Polonara shares some ideas about what to do in your garden for wildlife this month.
Time for an Autumn clean
It's time for a hedgehog box autumn clean! Take out old nesting material from hedgehog boxes, clean with a pet-safe disinfectant and let it air dry. Line it again with unstapled newspapers and cut pet hay - fill up to the top, as hogs do like a snuggly space!
Make sure your hog box is empty first - if a guest is still there, quickly transfer it to a cardboard box, clean, then place the hog back in its box, making sure to brick it in until dusk to prevent it from running off and potentially getting injured. Remember to remove the bricks at dusk!
Wisteria by Ashleigh Carter
Look after shrubs
Help your wisteria flower to do well next Spring by cutting back the long whippy side laterals to five or six leaves from the base of the stem. If you are looking to cut back your shrubs, now is the time to do it as most garden bird species will have finished nesting.
Planting daffodil bulbs, photo: Getty Images.
Plant your bulbs
It is now a great time to plant those spring bulbs, ready to flower for early pollinators next spring.