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We cannot guarantee that hedgehogs, birds and bats will move straight in. Providing nesting boxes for hedgehogs, bats and birds may well encourage the creatures to your garden, but whether they stay, is up to them! The old adage “location, location, location” holds just as true here, so make your boxes as attractive TO THE WILDLIFE as possible by choosing a good location to give your boxes the best chance of attracting residents.
You can try boxes in different types of location as they may appeal to different species, but always consider predators (out of reach of cats please) and also the weather (would you want an open door facing north, or east in winter?). Ideally place bird and bat boxes in trees with cover; if you don’t have sturdy enough trees, then fix the bird and bat boxes to walls or fences, but preferably in the cover of foliage from a climbing plant and always well away from the reach of cats and other predators. Hedgehog boxes should be sited in a quiet spot to the edge of the garden, hidden in the borders by ground covering plants, under low shrubs, in the hedge, buried into a mound, slope etc.
To give your nesting boxes even more appeal to potential occupants, have a look at your garden “with your wildlife eyes” and make sure you have some additional feature that would make the creatures interested in staying. Any one, or combination of the following would be of interest to wildlife… Wildflowers (packets of mixed seed will get you started); a wild corner, just leave a small part of your garden to go wild and let the nettles stay; a small pond or bog garden really doesn’t have to be big to be attractive, just make sure the hedgehog can get out if it falls in; also rockeries, woodpiles, hedges (One plant or a mixture to make your hedge more interesting throughout the year for example beech, berberis, dog rose, hawthorn, hazel and holly are just a few of the plants that make for great hedges – and certainly better than any fence).
For more information on how to make your garden more attractive to wildlife, or on how to look after it when it comes please review the various conservation websites such as the RSPB, the Hedgehog Preservation Society and the Bat Conservation Trust
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