Our gardens can be a sanctuary for wildlife, wherever we live. They can provide shelter and food for all sorts of species, from hoverflies to hedgehogs. Birds are some of the most popular garden visitors and it’s easy to spend a small fortune feeding them with seeds and fat balls. So why not try growing a natural feast for them instead?

Birds favour different foods throughout the year, taking advantage of each season’s specialties. A well-planted garden can make sure there’s something tasty on the menu at any time of year, from seeds to berries and insects.

An appetite for insects

In summer, most garden birds are interested in one type of food above all others – invertebrates, like insects, worms and spiders. These protein-packed snacks are essential to help their chicks grow quickly and get out of the nest.

It takes a lot of insects to raise a brood of birds. A single blue tit chick is reported to devour 100 caterpillars a day! But many insects are declining across the UK, leaving less food for growing birds. We can help by encouraging as many insects as possible into our gardens.

The simplest thing we can do is nothing. Take a break from gardening. Stow the shears, leave the lawn mower in the shed. Let your grass grow long, allow leaves to pile up under shrubs and don’t cut back dead plant stems. A messy patch can be home to a wide variety of wildlife! You don’t have to give over your whole garden – it could just be a quiet corner left to nature.

If you’re looking to step things up, there are plenty of insect-attracting options to make your green space even more inviting. You could...

• Build a log pile. Deadwood is prime real estate for beetles, spiders and other invertebrates. Rich pickings for ground feeding birds!
• Dig a pond. Adding water is probably the best way to attract wildlife to your garden, including plenty of creatures that birds will snack on.
• Create caterpillar food. Grow native flowers, shrubs and trees that will feed caterpillars, which in turn will feed the birds.

The berry boom

As autumn approaches, many birds get a taste for fruit. It’s a season of plenty, with brightly coloured berries decorating the trees and bushes. You might see blue tits pecking at blackberries, or blackbirds somehow swallowing rosehips whole. We’ve lost a lot of hedgerows and berry-bearing bushes from the wider countryside, so providing some in your garden should make you very popular with your feathered friends.

There are plenty of options, such as hawthorn, holly, blackthorn and dog rose. Ivy is great as the berries appear later in the year, when most other bushes have been plucked bare. Try to pick a variety so there are berries on offer right through autumn and winter.

Shrubs and bushes also bring added benefits for birds, such as providing shelter for nests and attracting insects to feed on. If you have the space, a native hedge is a great alternative garden boundary instead of a fence. You can learn more on our ‘How to make a hedge for wildlife’ page.

I feel the need, the need for seeds

It’s not just berries that help birds get through autumn and winter. Seeds play an important role as well. Leave annual and herbaceous plants standing after they’ve flowered, giving birds a chance to feast on their seeds. Dandelions, teasels, field or devil’s-bit scabious, and greater knapweed are all popular choices. You might be lucky enough to attract a charm of goldfinches, filling your garden with their delightful tinkling calls.

Something to wash it all down with

Finally, don’t forget to add water! Birds need to drink as well as eat. If you don’t have the space for a pond, can you add a mini pond or a birdbath? We’ve got plenty of tips to help provide water for wildlife.