Go WILD for Hedgehogs: Summer
23rd July 2026
Wild gardens welcome hedgehogs
Last summer, we asked you to choose a patch of your garden to become wild, leaving it to grow long and undisturbed. Thank you to everyone who has taken part, we’ve loved reading your wild garden entries and seeing your photos.
Summer tips
- See what’s popped up! Perhaps a self-sown ragwort or ox-eye daisy?
- If you want to keep the patch from getting too scrubby, you can pull out tougher plants such as docks and brambles by hand if they’ve self-seed in there (just check carefully for nesting hedgehogs beforehand!).
- Pop a trail camera at the edge of your wild patch to see who’s using it.
- Repeat the cycle with these Autumn, Winter and Spring tips!
- Send us an update with what you’ve been spotting.
Wild garden gallery
Helen in Dorset: “My whole garden is wild! Brick piles, ponds, logs and dead hedges, everything I use is recycled, reused and repurposed.” We love to see it Helen!
Keith in Greater London: “I moved into my present house two years ago. Since then my wife and I have been transforming the garden. We took the grass off a quarter of the plot and sowed a wild flower meadow based on chalk downland. We then dug a pond which very quickly has become populated with a huge variety of wild life. We planted a mixed hawthorn hedge containing 8 different indigenous hedging species, again based on chalk soil. Elsewhere in the garden there are now two log piles and two piles of rocks.” Amazing work Keith!
Jen in Berkshire: “It’s pretty wild and unkept! I sewed some wildflower seeds from the RSPB. We have several hedgehogs under the shed who were doing a loud mating ritual just below the kitchen window!!” Fab to see hedgehogs enjoying the wild Jen.
Dale in Shropshire: “Small patch of ‘weeds’ next to a pond under a bay tree which shelters my hedgehog box. One or more hedgehogs visits the area every night. The bay tree has lots of fallen leaves under it. Hedgehogs are ideal for lazy gardeners like me.” Words to live by Dale!
Sarah in Lincolnshire: “We have a small garden and have left a corner at the back under some oak trees as a wildlife area. We have a hedgehog house and log pile. We planted some native wildflowers and have left it to be wild.” Brilliant work Sarah.
