It is always a good idea to help the wildlife in your garden to get through the winter and this can be best done by putting out extra food. The benefits of doing this are that the animals and birds will come back after winter, reduce the insect populace in your garden and you will also get a chance of possibly seeing these beautiful animals up close. It is an easy task to help animals through the winter and also extremely rewarding as the slightest things that you do can make a real difference.

If you want to help birds, there are a number of things that you can do. You can place blocks of fat in wire cages and hang them from trees, or just place them on the ground. Be careful not to use plastic nets as birds may get their tongues stuck or caught up in it. You could also decide to make your own fat blocks by melting suet into various types of moulds, such as coconut shells or logs with holes drilled in them. You should also try to provide a range of different treats for birds in order to encourage a broader variety. Berry cakes will encourage finches, peanut cakes are suitable for starlings and insect cakes will attract species of tits into your garden. Small birds, such as Wrens, will prefer finely chopped bacon rind or grated cheese. Instead of just putting out fat balls, you should also try to lay out a range of nuts or grain in order to provide a balanced diet. Sunflower heads will be good for Sparrows, Finches and Nuthatches as they will enjoy prizing the seeds out from the flower. You will be able to purchase specially designed feeders suitable for different kinds of seeds. In order to encourage ground-feeding birds, you could place feed on a wire mesh held just above the ground by a stand of some sort. This will encourage birds like Robins and Dunnocks. Other types of birds, such as Thrushes and Blackbirds, prefer fruit. Over-ripe apples, raisins and special ‘song bird’ mixes will be sufficient enough in helping these birds survive over the winter.

When there are hibernating animals around, such as hedgehogs, always go careful when lighting bonfires as this may disturb and harm wildlife. If you have a pond in your garden that has frozen over, you should use a pan filled with boiling water to melt a hole in the ice. Do not hit ice as this will cause vibrations and possibly harm creatures in the water. When a hole has been created, animals will use this in order to have a drink of fresh, clean water. Try to not disturb soil heaps, as this is where small creatures will shelter, as the soil is normally warm and a good location for hibernation. You can place shallow dishes of water around the garden so as to supplement the needs of smaller creatures, and finally, leave all pruning of hollow stemmed plants until early spring as these will provide homes for insects.