Hi Emmadale
I agree with William – best not to use any chemicals on the lawn. If you are fussy about weeds it is quite easy to dig them out and the gap left soon fills in with grass again – or you can just add a small amount of grass-seed and possibly compost. But as well as the effect of the actual chemical on the hogs, I have heard that they discourage earthworms – a source of food for hogs. Personally, I think it’s counterproductive. I have never used chemicals on my lawn and have been complimented on it in the past. As well as being food for hogs, earthworms are good for a healthy lawn.
Where I don’t agree, is that a garden has to be untidy to be good and/or attractive to hedgehogs. You can still keep it reasonably tidy if you want to. The main thing is to include wildlife and hedgehog friendly features. i.e. woodpiles, to attract beetles, etc. But these can be kept tidily if wished. A wild flower patch is also good. I have found that the hogs don’t actually like the grass to get too long for actual foraging on, but not too short either. Longer margins or areas, can provide homes for insects, and the hogs can forage around them.
Please avoid strimming or at the very least check areas very carefully before strimming and even mowing. Hedgehogs can get horrific injuries from garden machinery. Their natural instinct is to roll up rather than run away. I had a poor hog a couple of years ago who had such a bad injury that he had to be put to sleep. Although he was so badly injured, he had, somehow, managed to make his way to my garden. I will never forget those shining eyes looking at me from what had once been a beautiful hedgehog as if to say ‘what has someone done to me’. A few days ago another hog (who I have been watching since hoglethood and who didn’t hibernate over winter so I know it well) was found to have had a strimmer injury as well. This one is receiving treatment but no hog wants to be confined – they need to be free. I won’t use a strimmer in my garden, they are so dangerous not only to hogs, but to other wildlife, such as amphibians and reptiles.
Good luck with the hogs there. I hope they all do well, and maybe, later on have some hoglets.
