Hedgehog-friendly gardening

Despite being one of Britain’s best-loved mammals, hedgehogs are in alarming decline and need our help. Nearly half of the UK population has been lost in just 13 years. Previously a widespread garden visitor, this nocturnal native

A native plant is one that originated or arrived naturally in a particular place without human involvement. In the British Isles, native plants are those that were here during the last ice age or have arrived unaided since.

is now classed as vulnerable to extinction in the UK, with fewer than 900,000 individuals left– down from an estimated 30 million in the 1950s.

Contributing factors include habitat loss, invertebrate

Invertebrates are animals that don't have a backbone. Common garden invertebrates, or minibeasts, include insects, spiders, worms, slugs, snails, woodlice and centipedes. They play important roles in a garden ecosystem, including breaking down organic matter, pollinating flowers and providing food for other animals.

declines, road traffic and more intensive farming practices, with rural populations particularly in trouble. Sadly, hedgehogs are also very vulnerable to accidents on roads and in gardens, with estimated annual road casualty figures equal to around a quarter of the total UK hedgehog population.

• Are there hedgehogs in my area? View interactive map

To make your garden hedgehog-friendly, the first step is to remove any hazards and ensure tasks such as strimming are carried out in a hedgehog-aware way. Once you have a safe environment, there are several ways you can attract hedgehogs into your garden to support and enjoy these adorable mammals.

Give hedgehogs a helping hand with these hedgehog-friendly gardening tips from RHS Senior Wildlife Specialist Helen Bostock.

How to make your garden safe for hedgehogs

1. Always check before strimming

Always check the whole area carefully before strimming, and cut long grass with care. Strimmers are one of the biggest causes of fatal or severely injuring hedgehog accidents, so even if you haven’t noticed hedgehogs in your garden, always check thoroughly before cutting long grass. Be aware that this habitat can also be full of other creatures such as amphibians and smaller mammals.

If you have a robotic mower, check with the manufacturer that it has good safety precautions for preventing injury to hedgehogs. Find out more

Hedgehogs also like to take refuge in compost

Can refer to either home-made garden compost or seed/potting compost: Garden compost is a soil improver made from decomposed plant waste, usually in a compost bin or heap. It is added to soil to improve its fertility, structure and water-holding capacity. Seed or potting composts are used for growing seedlings or plants in containers - a wide range of commercially produced peat-free composts are available, made from a mix of various ingredients, such as loam, composted bark, coir and sand, although you can mix your own.

heaps, so be particularly careful when forking or turning over your compost pile.

Tens of thousands of hedgehogs suffer strimmer-related accidents and fatalities every year

2. Make water safe

While hedgehogs are good swimmers, they will tire if they can’t find an escape. Fix a wildlife ramp into any steep-sided garden ponds so that hedgehogs can clamber to safety if they fall in. Also cover any drains with lids, and fit any steep-sided holes with a ramp to prevent these short-legged mammals from falling into a trap.

• How to make a wildlife pond

3. Be bonfire aware

A bonfire pile seems like a five star hotel for a hibernating hedgehog, as well as attracting other wildlife such as frogs and newts. There are many more environmentally friendly ways of repurposing garden waste, including making habitat piles and dead hedges, which themselves are fantastic habitat for hedgehogs. Why not use your material to create a permanent safe home for them instead?

However, if you do decide to have a bonfire, wait until just before lighting to make the bonfire pile, or deconstruct, move and reconstruct the pile prior to lighting, checking through carefully for any sleepy hedgehogs. Then light from just one corner to give any remaining small wildlife an escape route.

Keen to find the cosiest spot, hedgehogs will gravitate towards the centre of the pile at the base. Once the pile is lit, smoke quickly disorientates a sleepy hedgehog and hides the way out, preventing its escape. To make matters worse, a hedgehog’s danger response is not to flee but to curl up into a ball – so it’s crucial to ensure you’ve combed through all the material before you light.

Speak to local Bonfire Night event organisers to make sure they’re doing the same.

Cate Barrow

Hedgehogs find quiet spots to hibernate from October or November through to March or April

4. Remove hazards

Do a litter loop of your garden, removing any potential hazards that can entangle or ensnare hedgehogs and other wildlife. Loose plastic netting, old plastic compost bags and bailer twine

Twine is a soft, fine loosely woven string treated with preservatives for outdoor use. Used for tying in climbers and other plants to supports.

all need to be stored safely away or put in the bin.

5. Avoid slug pellets

Dig around in the back of the garage or shed to make sure you don’t have any old metadehyde-based slug pellets lurking there. These are now banned due to their high toxicity to wildlife, so must be disposed of safely at your nearest recycling centre.

Slugs and snails have many benefits in the garden, so it’s best to tolerate a level of damage by the minority species that do feed on live plants. Though not a mainstream food source, they may sometimes be consumed by hedgehogs if there is little else available. In this event, any toxicity from slug pellets present in the slugs or snails would be passed on.

• Managing slugs and snails

How to attract hedgehogs into your garden

1. Make a hedgehog highway

Hedgehogs roam up to 2km each night in search of food, shelter and mates, but gardens need to be connected to enable safe passage. Get pally with your neighbours to create a ‘hedgehog highway’, making CD-sized holes at the base of fences between gardens to allow hedgehogs to move freely around your neighbourhood.

Christopher Morgan

2. Provide water

A constant supply of clean, fresh water is invaluable for many garden visitors, including hedgehogs. Put out a shallow bowl of water in your garden all year round and make sure to keep this topped up during hot weather – hedgehogs get just as thirsty as birds, but can’t source water so easily.

3. Leave some habitat

Build a pile of logs, twigs or leaves to create a larder of juicy grubs and beetles, the perfect menu items for hedgehogs. Hedgehogs are also more likely to be found in gardens that have compost heaps.

Plant hedges in place of fences to provide cover for hedgehogs and other animals who can shelter underneath. Hedgehog – it’s in the name!

Promoting a diversity of plants, particularly British natives such as hawthorn, blackthorn, dog rose and honeysuckle, not only benefits wider biodiversity

The variety of living organisms (plants, animals, fungi and microorganisms) in a particular environment. Boosting the biodiversity of your garden has many benefits, including supporting wildlife, improving soil health and reducing the likelihood of pest and disease problems.

but will also provide food plants for caterpillars, another favourite of hedgehogs.

• Plant a mixed native hedge for wildlife

4. Provide food

It’s worth providing some hedgehog food even if you’re not sure your garden is home to these prickly visitors. This is especially important in early autumn, when hedgehogs need to fatten up to get them through their long, cold winter hibernation.

Try putting out tinned meaty dog or cat food. If you’re worried about cats or foxes taking the food, place it inside an upturned box with an entrance hole cut out.

Setting up a night-time wildlife camera will help you keep track of which animals you attract.

Helen Bostock

Hedgehog hibernating in a log pile at RHS Bridgewater

5. Install a hedgehog house

Install one or more hedgehog houses in your garden, tucking them into a nice sheltered spot such as behind the garden shed. Go for a design which has a ‘tunnel entrance’ or internal baffle to discourage predators, such as this one, and is made of FSC-certified timber or other sturdy sustainable materials.

Site your hedgehog house in a quiet, shady spot where it won’t be disturbed, preferably facing south or east. You can cover the roof with vegetation, leaves or logs

Don’t forget that hedgehogs are most active at night, so the best way to find out if they’re visiting your garden is to install a wildlife camera, listen for snuffling sounds after dark or look out for sure signs such as droppings, which are black, shiny and around an inch long, usually found individually.

If you see a hedgehog, whether alive or deceased, help to improve population understanding and conservation efforts by logging your sighting on this UK-wide hedgehog map. Good luck!