Hey all,
I'm interested in improving the habitat for hedgehogs in our garden.
I've been reading https://icanlawn.com/how-to-make-a-hedg ... dly-garden and wonder if anyone can add anything.
I'm hoping to create a dense wildflower meadow in my garden where hedgehogs will have run of the meadow and can feel safe and secure.
Are there any wildflower species or seed mixes anyone would recommend?
Thank you!
Advice for the best meadows for hedgehogs and local wildlife
Advice for the best meadows for hedgehogs and local wildlife
Last edited by SkyGallic on Fri Mar 10, 2023 10:06 am, edited 1 time in total.
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NigelPemberton
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Re: Advice for the best meadows for hedgehogs and local wildlife
Hi
We have a wildlife friendly garden and my wife happens to run a hedgehog rescue centre.
To keep it simple follow best advice where hedgehogs are concerned.
www.hedgehogstreet.org is the best source for information on advice for supporting hedgehogs and they are linked to the British Hedgehog Preservation Society.
Regarding planting a meadow, which is a great idea, the best thing would to research what plants grow in your area and will grow on your type of soil. If you are converting a lawn the most important thing is to establish Yellow Rattle which is a semi parasitic plant that takes it’s nutrients from the grass, weakening the grass and slowing its growth. This will help your wildflowers to establish. I would recommend a ratio of 50% yellow rattle to plant seeds.
It is on the high side but I’ve established three meadows to date from existing lawn and you need plenty of yellow rattle.
Good luck
Nigel
We have a wildlife friendly garden and my wife happens to run a hedgehog rescue centre.
To keep it simple follow best advice where hedgehogs are concerned.
www.hedgehogstreet.org is the best source for information on advice for supporting hedgehogs and they are linked to the British Hedgehog Preservation Society.
Regarding planting a meadow, which is a great idea, the best thing would to research what plants grow in your area and will grow on your type of soil. If you are converting a lawn the most important thing is to establish Yellow Rattle which is a semi parasitic plant that takes it’s nutrients from the grass, weakening the grass and slowing its growth. This will help your wildflowers to establish. I would recommend a ratio of 50% yellow rattle to plant seeds.
It is on the high side but I’ve established three meadows to date from existing lawn and you need plenty of yellow rattle.
Good luck
Nigel
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Jane W
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Re: Advice for the best meadows for hedgehogs and local wildlife
A nice idea to focus on one species...and I'm certain others will benefit as a side effect.
I suppose one of your main concerns will be to keep invertebrate numbers high in order to feed your hedgehog (and hopefully their family!). Research seems to point to higher vegetation mass as correlating with higher invertebrate numbers, and from the 'wildflower meadow' point of view, there was a survey( search Steve Pollard's posts as he posted it a while ago) which suggested that 'unpopular' wildflowers ( ie: brambles, nettles, thistles, ragwort) supported far higher numbers of insects than 'popular' wildflowers ( I'm guessing here, but imagine this may be orchids, daisies, poppies etc). So, your hedgehog would probably be very happy with you not planting any seeds..but just letting the grass grow, along with any indigenous wild flowers which may be already there.
Have you had chance yet to survey which plants are present yet?
Or maybe having different levels of grass...some shorter, some medium, some left uncut, to widen the range of habitats.
But....if we consider that your hedgehog's success relies heavily on the local human population being on board with your project...then keeping neighbours and family happy with an attractive flowery meadow/garden could be an important factor.
As solitary animals with quite large territories I guess that your hedgehog needs to move around between many gardens, and so trying to get your neighbours involved must be a big consideration. Between you, a pond or clean water source will be important, and some nice big, piles of wood or brash, covered maybe in leaves or grass, and maybe a bit of corrugated tin or plastic or 'thatched' hay, bracken etc to keep it dry.
Would love to hear how your plans are progressing so far. Do you have a resident hedgehog at the moment?
I suppose one of your main concerns will be to keep invertebrate numbers high in order to feed your hedgehog (and hopefully their family!). Research seems to point to higher vegetation mass as correlating with higher invertebrate numbers, and from the 'wildflower meadow' point of view, there was a survey( search Steve Pollard's posts as he posted it a while ago) which suggested that 'unpopular' wildflowers ( ie: brambles, nettles, thistles, ragwort) supported far higher numbers of insects than 'popular' wildflowers ( I'm guessing here, but imagine this may be orchids, daisies, poppies etc). So, your hedgehog would probably be very happy with you not planting any seeds..but just letting the grass grow, along with any indigenous wild flowers which may be already there.
Have you had chance yet to survey which plants are present yet?
Or maybe having different levels of grass...some shorter, some medium, some left uncut, to widen the range of habitats.
But....if we consider that your hedgehog's success relies heavily on the local human population being on board with your project...then keeping neighbours and family happy with an attractive flowery meadow/garden could be an important factor.
As solitary animals with quite large territories I guess that your hedgehog needs to move around between many gardens, and so trying to get your neighbours involved must be a big consideration. Between you, a pond or clean water source will be important, and some nice big, piles of wood or brash, covered maybe in leaves or grass, and maybe a bit of corrugated tin or plastic or 'thatched' hay, bracken etc to keep it dry.
Would love to hear how your plans are progressing so far. Do you have a resident hedgehog at the moment?
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Amy
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Re: Advice for the best meadows for hedgehogs and local wildlife
Hi there SkyGallic. It is a great idea to encourage hedgehogs into your garden. What a lovely idea.
Hedgehog attractants - thoughts of safety, food, and shelter spring to mind.
First though, as there is probably a hedgehog charity near you - I would contact them for advice, and ask all your neighbours, to find out the likelihood of hedgehogs actually already living near to you.
Safety
A recent talk by Stephen Powles, a former veterinary surgeon, https://www.stephenpowles.co.uk/about, referenced Hedgehog Street, and the Hedgehog Preservation Society, as mentioned by Nigel Pemberton, above. Stephen stressed that the most important thing we can do, is to ensure connectivity between gardens, making sure for example, that any exits designed for hedgehogs were chosen to give them a safe passage to the next area, rather than exiting onto a road. Hedgehogs have large territories. One small unconnected garden would not give enough space on its own, for a hedgehog to live in.
Food
Hedgehogs eat worms, beetles, other insects, fruit, small rodents, amphibians. Stephen showed a calendar of their natural diet, which, I seem to remember, showed the consumption of worms, beetles and caterpillars, from waking up time right through to hibernating time, with other insects consumed during the summer months.
To risk stating the obvious - the point of a wild flower meadow to a hedgehog, would be to provide insect prey as food, and a meadow might provide insect prey for only part of the hedgehog waking months. (I'm not aware of anyone saying that a hedgehog eats any actual plants, apart from fallen fruit in the autumn). The thing about a wild flower meadow is - the plants might not get going until mid to late spring, and the insects get going at the same time to utilise the plants - and the plants are usually cut down in late summer/early autumn, so there might be a hungry gap for active hedgehogs in the meadow area in early spring and in mid to late autumn.
Worms seem to prefer rich moist soil, where leaves and other plant remains are breaking down. Beetles prefer long grassy cover. Some caterpillars can be found at the base of grassy tussocks. Some wild flowers, such as knapweed, can cope with growing in between long grassy tussocks, or with rich soil. Generally though, most wild flowers grow best on poor well drained soils. The three habitats are different.
I asked Stephen Powles about your question. He said it would be best generally to provide a mix or a little of each habitat.
So if you have plenty of space, then as suggested by Nigel and Jane, it would be great to provide compost heaps, wood piles, leaf heaps, piles of lawn clippings, and permanent long grass, to attract the hedgehog's main prey of worms and beetles, and also to offer the opportunity for the shelter of hedgehog day nests, and winter hibernation, as well as a meadow.
If on the other hand, your garden is small, and you don't want to take up space with wood piles etc, but, there is a wood near to you, or a hedgerow, or allotments, with potential safe access to and from it/them to your garden, then you may feel you have more available space within your garden just for a meadow.
It depends on your priorities, and on the connectivity of your neighbourhood.
If you have the space for a vegetable plot and ornamental flower beds, all mulched with plant material such as wood chippings/strawy manure/other plant remains (= compost, rather than a plastic membrane), as well as a meadow, then you already have a mosaic or good offering of habitats.
Wild Flower Meadow
As Jane said, it is generally believed, that native wild flowers attract the most native insects and other wildlife organisms, as they have evolved together. The Cumbria Wildlife Trust may sell you wild flower seed from your local area or at least should be able to direct you to someone who collects and sells seed from your local area. This would be the very best. It would also be well worth your while to forage seed heads from hedgerows on roadsides, yourself, throughout the summer and autumn. You will find lovely flowers growing in the hedgerows. Look for the flowers in the spring and summer, then go back a few weeks later to find the seed heads.
A mix of local wild flowers would probably be best. I am not aware of anyone having done research to prove that a specific wild flower, X, is used by specific insects, Y and Z, whether by roots/stems/or flowers, which insects are specifically consumed as a favourite valuable food by hedgehogs.
The Cumbria Wildlife Trust has several pages of info about hedgehogs on its website https://www.cumbriawildlifetrust.org.uk ... n-hedgehog
There is some advice on comfortable habitat from the Woodland Trust here: https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2 ... lsrc=aw.ds
suggesting an area of tussocky and other long grass, compost, and log and leaf piles - as much as you can spare in your garden.
A possible compromise
If you cannot afford to spare much space for log piles and other rough areas, I would suggest corridors of longish grass and other meadow plants in between gooseberries, black currants, rhubarb, other shrubs with low hanging branches, whatever you fancy. These bushes and the rhubarb leaves would provide some cover. Don't bother to buy grass seed, just let what you already have, grow, or whatever sows itself there. (It might be tricky to keep the long grass out of the fruit bushes. It depends on how tidy you wish it to look. Up to about 10 cm of mulch layers - cardboard, topped by mulches of leaves and/or old manure, topped by wood chips, just around the bushes, but not touching the stems, would reduce the weeding, feed the bushes, and encourage worms for the hedgehogs.)
If your first thought is that the non-meadow habitat areas would look messy in your garden, you might consider planting pretty cultivated climbers, annuals, or small rambler roses with hips for other wildlife, or ivy, or wild dog roses whose flowers are great for insects., over your log piles, or perhaps tall insect-friendly plants like buddleias or sunflowers or mahonias in front of them to hide them.
It might be nice to have a shallow-edged pond near the window, for watching the visitors in the day time and evenings.
A final thought - dogs often find the scent of hedgehogs irresistible and often attack them. A dog would be a deterrent. If you have a dog, you might like to make sure he cannot enter the area where you wish to attract hedgehogs.
Hedgehog attractants - thoughts of safety, food, and shelter spring to mind.
First though, as there is probably a hedgehog charity near you - I would contact them for advice, and ask all your neighbours, to find out the likelihood of hedgehogs actually already living near to you.
Safety
A recent talk by Stephen Powles, a former veterinary surgeon, https://www.stephenpowles.co.uk/about, referenced Hedgehog Street, and the Hedgehog Preservation Society, as mentioned by Nigel Pemberton, above. Stephen stressed that the most important thing we can do, is to ensure connectivity between gardens, making sure for example, that any exits designed for hedgehogs were chosen to give them a safe passage to the next area, rather than exiting onto a road. Hedgehogs have large territories. One small unconnected garden would not give enough space on its own, for a hedgehog to live in.
Food
Hedgehogs eat worms, beetles, other insects, fruit, small rodents, amphibians. Stephen showed a calendar of their natural diet, which, I seem to remember, showed the consumption of worms, beetles and caterpillars, from waking up time right through to hibernating time, with other insects consumed during the summer months.
To risk stating the obvious - the point of a wild flower meadow to a hedgehog, would be to provide insect prey as food, and a meadow might provide insect prey for only part of the hedgehog waking months. (I'm not aware of anyone saying that a hedgehog eats any actual plants, apart from fallen fruit in the autumn). The thing about a wild flower meadow is - the plants might not get going until mid to late spring, and the insects get going at the same time to utilise the plants - and the plants are usually cut down in late summer/early autumn, so there might be a hungry gap for active hedgehogs in the meadow area in early spring and in mid to late autumn.
Worms seem to prefer rich moist soil, where leaves and other plant remains are breaking down. Beetles prefer long grassy cover. Some caterpillars can be found at the base of grassy tussocks. Some wild flowers, such as knapweed, can cope with growing in between long grassy tussocks, or with rich soil. Generally though, most wild flowers grow best on poor well drained soils. The three habitats are different.
I asked Stephen Powles about your question. He said it would be best generally to provide a mix or a little of each habitat.
So if you have plenty of space, then as suggested by Nigel and Jane, it would be great to provide compost heaps, wood piles, leaf heaps, piles of lawn clippings, and permanent long grass, to attract the hedgehog's main prey of worms and beetles, and also to offer the opportunity for the shelter of hedgehog day nests, and winter hibernation, as well as a meadow.
If on the other hand, your garden is small, and you don't want to take up space with wood piles etc, but, there is a wood near to you, or a hedgerow, or allotments, with potential safe access to and from it/them to your garden, then you may feel you have more available space within your garden just for a meadow.
It depends on your priorities, and on the connectivity of your neighbourhood.
If you have the space for a vegetable plot and ornamental flower beds, all mulched with plant material such as wood chippings/strawy manure/other plant remains (= compost, rather than a plastic membrane), as well as a meadow, then you already have a mosaic or good offering of habitats.
Wild Flower Meadow
As Jane said, it is generally believed, that native wild flowers attract the most native insects and other wildlife organisms, as they have evolved together. The Cumbria Wildlife Trust may sell you wild flower seed from your local area or at least should be able to direct you to someone who collects and sells seed from your local area. This would be the very best. It would also be well worth your while to forage seed heads from hedgerows on roadsides, yourself, throughout the summer and autumn. You will find lovely flowers growing in the hedgerows. Look for the flowers in the spring and summer, then go back a few weeks later to find the seed heads.
A mix of local wild flowers would probably be best. I am not aware of anyone having done research to prove that a specific wild flower, X, is used by specific insects, Y and Z, whether by roots/stems/or flowers, which insects are specifically consumed as a favourite valuable food by hedgehogs.
The Cumbria Wildlife Trust has several pages of info about hedgehogs on its website https://www.cumbriawildlifetrust.org.uk ... n-hedgehog
There is some advice on comfortable habitat from the Woodland Trust here: https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2 ... lsrc=aw.ds
suggesting an area of tussocky and other long grass, compost, and log and leaf piles - as much as you can spare in your garden.
A possible compromise
If you cannot afford to spare much space for log piles and other rough areas, I would suggest corridors of longish grass and other meadow plants in between gooseberries, black currants, rhubarb, other shrubs with low hanging branches, whatever you fancy. These bushes and the rhubarb leaves would provide some cover. Don't bother to buy grass seed, just let what you already have, grow, or whatever sows itself there. (It might be tricky to keep the long grass out of the fruit bushes. It depends on how tidy you wish it to look. Up to about 10 cm of mulch layers - cardboard, topped by mulches of leaves and/or old manure, topped by wood chips, just around the bushes, but not touching the stems, would reduce the weeding, feed the bushes, and encourage worms for the hedgehogs.)
If your first thought is that the non-meadow habitat areas would look messy in your garden, you might consider planting pretty cultivated climbers, annuals, or small rambler roses with hips for other wildlife, or ivy, or wild dog roses whose flowers are great for insects., over your log piles, or perhaps tall insect-friendly plants like buddleias or sunflowers or mahonias in front of them to hide them.
It might be nice to have a shallow-edged pond near the window, for watching the visitors in the day time and evenings.
A final thought - dogs often find the scent of hedgehogs irresistible and often attack them. A dog would be a deterrent. If you have a dog, you might like to make sure he cannot enter the area where you wish to attract hedgehogs.
Re: Advice for the best meadows for hedgehogs and local wildlife
Wow Amy,
Thank you for your detailed reply; much appreciated!
Regards,
Thank you for your detailed reply; much appreciated!
Regards,