How to Transform Your Garden into a Hedgehog Haven

Hedgehogs need our help! These magnificent creatures are officially vulnerable to extinction. In 2020, they were added to the ‘red list’ of Britain’s under-threat animals. And although this recent report gave a glimmer of hope by showing a small increase in sightings, hedgehogs have still declined massively in population in the last few decades. But if you’ve got an outdoor space, you could offer our prickly pals a helping hand by turning it into a hedgehog haven. In return, you might just get regular visits from an animal affectionately known as ‘the gardener’s friend’. Here's how...

Create Hedgehog Highways

Gardens can provide rich habitat for our spiky friends, away from the dangers of busy roads. But hedgehogs roam around a mile a night, so one enclosed garden simply isn’t enough. ‘Hedgehog highways’ are a way of connecting multiple gardens, giving hedgehogs more safe space to roam. Cut a 13 x 13cm hole in a garden fence, or follow these other tips for making hedgehog highways from Hedgehog Street. Encourage your neighbours and others in your community to do the same; the more hedgehog highways we have, the better. Hedgehogs feed on creatures that many gardeners consider pests, such as caterpillars and slugs – so they can be valuable garden visitors.

Make a Wild Corner

Swap neatly manicured lawns and flower beds for a wilder area where hedgehogs will feel welcome. Compost heaps or piles of leaves and logs in a quiet corner of the garden can provide the perfect place for hedgehogs to sleep or hibernate. As well as offering a snug, secluded sleeping spot, warm, dry and dark areas like this will attract the invertebrates hedgehogs eat, like worms, slugs and insects. If you have a long garden, consider making your wild area at the bottom, away from the house. Try leaving a patch of bare soil to give hedgehogs easy access to worms. Let grass grow tall and plant wildflower seeds to attract even more invertebrates (and all-important pollinators, too!).

Provide a Hedgehog Home

Hedgehog houses provide a safe, cosy place for hedgehogs to sleep or hibernate. In autumn, hedgehogs collect dried leaves, moss and other plant matter to line their cosy winter bed for hibernation. If your garden already has a compost heaps or wild areas as mentioned above, they might choose to spend their winter there, or in other quiet areas, like under a shed. You can also provide a purpose-built hedgehog house for your new garden friend to bed down in over winter. These can either be bought (but avoid any that have mesh inside, which can get caught on hedgehog’s spines) or made. For more information on how to make a hedgehog house, see this information from the British Hedgehog Preservation Society.

Give Supplementary Food

Serving hedgehogs with supplementary food can really help them through the colder months, when there are fewer invertebrates around for them to feed on. It can also help them ‘fatten up’ in autumn, when wild food is in shorter supply and they need to increase their energy stores ahead of hibernation. Hedgehogs don’t sleep solidly for the entire winter; whenever their fat reserves start to run out, they’ll wake up and go in search of food. Provide good quality cat or dog food (wet or dry, non-fish varieties). Keep the food away from cats by making a hedgehog feeding station out of a storage box with a hole cut out of it, weighed down with bricks. Never feed a hedgehog bread and milk, as it can make them sick. And leave clean, fresh water out, especially during dry spells. Read more about feeding hedgehogs and making a hedgehog feeding station here.

Hedgehog Health & Safety

Make sure your garden is a safe place for hedgehogs to be. Don’t use netting or mesh at ground level, as hedgehogs can get caught up in it – and avoid using slug pellets completely. Before using a strimmer, check to make sure no hedgehogs are hiding away in the undergrowth. If you’re planning on burning leaves or logs, or having a bonfire, check the pile first to make sure a hedgehog hasn’t made it its home. If you have a pond, provide a ramp made of bricks or slates so that any hedgehogs who fall into the water have an escape route.

Healthy hedgehogs should always be left alone. Remember that hedgehogs are nocturnal, so if you see one out and about during the day, especially sprawling in the sun, it may be unwell. If you find a sick or injured hedgehog, you can read more about what to do here.