Help wildlife survive winter

Birds are more likely to visit gardens in autumn and winter, as they rely on bird feeders when their natural sources of insects and grubs dry up. They need calorie-rich suet, sunflower hearts and peanuts to maintain fat reserves on frosty nights. In colder weather, look out for less common visitors, such as waxwings, blackcaps, redwings and bullfinches.

How to help

• Leave fallen fruit on lawns, bird tables or at the back of borders for birds to find and feast on.
  
  
• Allow teasels and sunflowers to seed, providing you with winter interest and an instant snack for birds.
  
  
• Install a bird bath, where birds can drink and clean their feathers - essential for insulation

Frogs, toads and newts overwinter in log and leaf piles, or beneath stones and plant pots. Some rest in the mud at the bottom of ponds. They're also fond of compost bins, so be careful if forking over the heap. Frogs enter a state of torpor in winter, rather than hibernation, rising from their slumber in search of food on warm days.

How to help

• Float a tennis ball or similar in your pond to prevent it freezing over, reducing oxygenation and suffocating any frogs beneath the surface.
  
  
• Create a rock pile. Ideally, this should face north, to avoid temperature highs and lows between day and night. If possible, site it near a pond or damp spot

Nearly half of all hedgehogs die during their first winter. Many starve, while those born in late-summer are often too small to hibernate, and so are unable to survive the cold weather. In mild winters, hedgehogs are prone to waking up, having been tricked into believing it is spring. They waste valuable fat reserves looking for food.

How to help

• Provide hedgehogs with a warm place to sleep by making a leaf pile or buying or making a bespoke hedgehog house. Leave warm, snug compost heaps be until spring, where hedgehogs will rest and also find food.
  
  
• Leave a dish of water and some dog or cat food to
  
  
• help boost their fat reserves. Stop feeding them as winter sets in to encourage them to hibernate.
  
  
• Always check bonfires before lighting them, preferably making the pile on the day you intend to light it.
  
  
• If you find a baby hedgehog in autumn, take it in and keep it warm. Feed it with cat or dog food and water, but don't release it until it weighs at least 450g (1lb). Visit britishhedgehogs.org.uk for further information on how to help them.

Insects readily hibernate in gardens. Bumblebees dig holes in the ground or rest in leaf litter, butterflies sleep in garages, sheds and between folds of curtains. Wasps, ladybirds and lacewings shelter under loose bark on logs and in cracks in door and window frames. If you disturb them, they're likely to perish. If you can't leave them undisturbed, move them to a cool spot where they can settle again.

How to help

• Recreate the nooks and crannies insects hibernate in by tying up bamboo and sunflower stems, and leave them in a dry spot in the garden.
  
  
• Provide late-flying insects with a source of food by soaking a clean sponge in a solution made from an equal mix of sugar and water.