Turn your outdoor space into a safe haven for nature this autumn and winter
When autumn arrives, your outdoor space starts changing into a softer, golden version of itself, and you quickly feel surrounded by crunchy leaves and cooler breezes. Whilst many rush to begin an autumn tidy up of every last leaf, now is actually the time to slow down and make your outdoor space a refuge for biodiversity over the colder months. The trick is to ‘tidy up’ without being too tidy and bring some balance to it. Here are our tips for autumn wilding.
Leave some leaves
You might feel tempted to rake up every leaf you can see, but here’s the thing – you really don’t have to. Fallen leaves create a natural blanket that gives hedgehogs and frogs a safe place to rest, whilst also protecting the soil from losing too much moisture. By leaving a few corners of your outdoor space untidy, or keeping some heaps of leaves, you can create a little hotel for all sorts of insects and small creatures to use when it gets cold.
Rake in moderation with our lightweight but sturdy, adjustable Niwaki Rake.
Seedheads and stems help out
Whilst traditionally, tidying up for winter involved cutting back plants, you can do something kinder. Leaving seed heads on sunflowers, coneflowers and grasses provides natural food sources for birds. Standing stems provide shelter for overwintering insects and protect the soil below from harsh weather. Not to mention, the winter beauty that you can enjoy from the frost-covered shapes.
If that feels too bold, you can simply trim the front of borders whilst leaving the back wild, to create balance between order and natural beauty.
Trim or tie back carefully with our secateurs and Twool sustainable wool twine selection.
Create a shelter for your wild companions
Small, safe hideouts are perfect for little creatures such as hedgehogs, whose numbers have been in decline. Use logs, branches, sticks and leaves to build a simple shelter in a quiet corner. Simply stacking a few pieces of wood or logs in a pile creates endless nooks for insects, amphibians and small mammals.
Keep your hands warm and protected whilst your build a shelter with our Niwaki winter gloves.
Minimise outdoor lighting
Whilst outdoor lights can look beautiful and be important for safety, especially during winter when it gets dark early, light pollution can be hugely disruptive to wildlife. Nocturnal creatures from moths, to bats and even glow-worms all have their lifestyles disrupted by artificial light. As with all things, balance is key. Switch off outdoor lights when not in use, opt for portable lights that you can take outside when needed and choose low intensity lights with a warmer hue. It is in fact an opportunity for us too – to take a pause and enjoy the moonlight and starlight of a clear night.
Reconsider the ‘weeds’
After the rapid growth of spring and summer, you might find that all sorts of ‘weeds’ have appeared. Or are they really weeds? Plants such as brambles and ivy provide ideal habitats for birds because they offer protection from predators, shelter and food.
Embracing autumn, letting go a little and encouraging the creation of habitats can really help the wildlife that we share our outdoor spaces with.
Autumn wilding
Tidying up in Autumn doesn’t have to mean an endless task list of clearing, pruning, and battling against nature—it can be about working with and enjoying the natural world. By leaving leaves and seed heads, minimising artificial lighting and creating shelters, you’ll be giving all sorts of creatures a helping hand this winter.
The best part is that it means less work for you and more time to enjoy being outdoors. So, drop the urge to over-tidy, take some time to relax and welcome the beauty of the season.
