Future-proofing your garden for wildlife from the effects of climate change

Climate change is now a reality that impacts us all, with the overwhelming evidence that it’s being caused by man-made activity such as the burning of fossil fuels. In turn, climate drives our weather and with this the sort of extremes we now experience – more frequent summer heatwaves, but also relatively short spells of torrential rain.

Whilst many of us have made changes to our own lifestyles to try and minimise the negative carbon impact we all make, the fact is that it will take a seismic shift from all of the world’s major governments to even stabilise the current position – and there’s little sign this is currently going to happen. We therefore all need to be thinking about practical ways we can deal with the effects of climate change, because whilst none of us know for sure the exact extent to which it will affect our lives going forward, what we can say for certain is that it will be significant – and we’re already seeing the signs of that.

For anyone who loves their garden then that’s a good place to start, as for many of us it is our haven and a place we relax in and enjoy the birds and other wildlife which are attracted. So in order to protect this, we need to be taking steps now to help future-proof for the coming years. There are lots of measures that can be taken, but here we’ve focused on just four which are especially important.  

Many areas of the UK already have a hosepipe ban, with this the result of reservoirs at near-record lows following the exceptionally dry spring and summer. Of course we’ve seen droughts like this before, but the reality is that they’re likely to become much more the norm. However, winters are likely to be wetter, so there’s going to be ample opportunity to capture all that lovely free rain water for use in the summer months. There are now lots of practical solutions, from traditional water butts which can be linked together with short pipes to create a whole line of them, to slim vertical storage tanks which fit against a house wall. The benefits to birds and other wildlife from keeping at least some areas of a garden well-watered in dry spells are huge, because it ensures your mini ecosystem continues to thrive – e.g. Blackbirds and Robins can still find worms and other invertebrates in damp soil. And of course, healthy plants and trees produce seeds, fruit and berries for birds to eat at the end of the summer.

Blocking direct sunlight from at least some areas of your garden will obviously create cooler and damper conditions, with trees the best way to achieve this. Native trees in particular typically provide more value for insects and birds, with examples of species which aren’t too big and are also relatively drought tolerant, being Field maple, Silver birch and Rowan.

Maintaining a lawn with very short grass requires large amounts of water, with the main reason being that direct sunlight easily penetrates the grass and dries out the surface layer of soil. Whilst a highly manicured lawn might look neat and attractive, it has little value to wildlife. Many people have already abandoned the idea of a lawn altogether and replaced it with options such as a wildflower meadow, but you don’t have to go that far. By all means keep a lawn, but allow it to grow longer and, when you do cut it, set the mower height at a level where it’s as far from the ground as possible. Keeping grass at a slightly greater height also allows species of short wild flower such as clover to have their place, with the flowers then providing nectar for bees.

Bird baths and trays of water at ground level are hugely important for birds and other wildlife – and in the winter months – but a pond, and even a very small one, can be a lifeline for a much wider range of creatures. For example, newts and frogs can be guaranteed to breed if there is water at a sufficient level, with the context here being that there’s been a trend of more natural ponds in parks and the countryside to dry-up during heatwaves. You can keep your pond full by using the harvested rainwater – which is also far better for pond life than tap water.