Team Wilder wildlife garden 2024 Dorothy in Knowle Bristol

Name: Dorothy Smith
Category: Individual garden
Area: Knowle, Bristol

Tell us what you or your group love about your garden 
Dorothy: I'm just amazed at and very grateful for the variety of wildlife that I see in my small suburban garden. Having never had a garden of my own before, I've found that creating a place where birds, hedgehogs, slow worms, frogs, foxes, squirrels, bees and many other invertebrates feel safe and welcome is the most fulfilling and life-affirming thing. Making my garden into a green and colourful escape from the city and somewhere for my young kids to have fun makes me happy too, but the wild visitors are the real priority.

What makes your garden wildlife friendly?
Dorothy: There are gaps in the fences so that hedgehogs can come and go, three hedgehog houses built from bricks and wood in shady spots and a hedgehog feeding station with fresh food and water each night. I created a raised barrel pond and rockery last year, and we have a couple of bird feeders and bird baths, and a bird nesting box on the side of the house.

There are some log piles to attract invertebrates, lots of pollinator-friendly plants (eg honeysuckle, foxgloves, lavender, purple toadflax, cirsium, alliums, sunflowers), a grassy area that I leave unmown which is full of clover, dandelions and buttercups and a bee/bug hotel. I've left an old dustbin lid and patio slab in sunny areas as places for slow worms to warm themselves.

When we moved here in 2021 the garden was just an empty lawn and one crab apple tree, so I've planted more trees and hedges over the past year which will eventually thicken out and provide more cover for birds and other animals.

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