Hosting a rich Eco-system will promote natural pest control and a thriving habitat for small critters and for your beautiful flowers! Known as the “Gardener’s friend”, Hedgehogs aren’t just cute, they’re also valuable pest controllers. They love to munch on slugs and other pest, keeping your flowers and herbs blooming throughout the spring, summer, and autumn. The hedgehog is an insectivore with a voracious appetite – an adult can easily eat up to 200g of insects a night! That means it would take a single hedgehog only three months to munch its way through a slug-infested garden.
Leaving an area of your garden wild naturally unkempt is a great way to help wildlife and little hedgehog’s come into your garden. Hedgehogs need three things; food, water and shelter. And pretty much all of those can be achieved with a good compost heap. Hedgehogs and other wildlife can then use fallen leaves, twigs and dead vegetation to build their nests. In the wild areas also provides a home for the insects that hedgehogs and birds love to feed on. Also by creating a pile of old bits of wood can give the hedgehogs somewhere to hide, sleep and hibernate. Choose a quiet spot that is unlikely to be disturbed from November to March as this is when the hedgehogs will be hibernating. Hedgehogs are able to swim, so may be attracted to garden ponds. So if you have a pond, create a sloping edge using rocks or wood so that they can climb out with ease. This will also be useful for frogs and toads.
So this spring when you start your gardening, and would like a little help from a gardener’s friend try to do less gardening. Yes, really. Leave wild patches, plant hedges and, if you have the space (and you dare), leave patches of brambles to grow freely.
Flymeawaycreations shop has a cute hedgehog 3D printed planter to bring a little nature into your home! Follow the link to see the cute fellow!
https://www.etsy.com/listing/671702069/hedgehog-planter-for-succulents
The-dirty-hoe.com 