Hedgehogs are useful visitors in the garden as they will eat slugs, beetles, caterpillars and a variety of other insects.

By planting specific shrubs and perennials, especially wild flowers, you can attract all types of fauna to your garden

Plant shrubs that yield fruits and berries, such as Cotoneaster, Pyracantha, Honeysuckle or Ivy. They are a vital food resource for birds in the Autumn.

Plant some large shrubs in the garden to provide shelter for birds looking for somewhere to nest.

Avoid pesticides. Blue tits love greenfly and aphids. Slug pellets can poison hedgehogs - so place under a slate, or use other methods such as beer traps.

Birds love untidy gardens. Dead heads on plants carry seeds which birds could eat. Insects and other invertebrates live under leaf letter, so don’t rake it all away.

Home made compost gives plants a good start in life, helps to reduce watering and eases pressure on waste disposal. Buy peat-free products and help save our declining peat bogs.

A pond can offer a home to a whole host of creatures, a refuge for aquatic and amphibian life to live and breed, and a place for thirsty visitors to stop and drink. And for its human host, it provides a place of tranquility, relaxation and reflection.