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Go WILD for Hedgehogs: Autumn

26th September 2025

Over the summer, we asked you to choose a patch of your garden to become wild, leaving it to grow long and undisturbed.

Find out more about about Go WILD for Hedgehogs and log your wild patch!

Autumn advice

Now that autumn has arrived, you have two options for maximising your space long term. While we want these patches to be wild and undisturbed, a little bit of management can help improve them for hedgehogs and other species.

  • Leave your patch completely uncut, just giving it a little tidy up in early spring before new growth starts.

OR

  • Check the area very carefully before cutting it back, now that any flowers have seeded. Add the clippings to a compost heap. Leave some areas long to provide hedgehogs with nesting materials.

Extra tips

If you have any bare soil in your wild patch or wider garden, you can plant wildflower seeds or bulbs now in preparation for spring. Native wildflower mixes will make for a colourful display that also benefits garden wildlife.

Gather fallen leaves into piles around the garden. These will provide nesting materials as well as attract insect prey.

Tell us about your wild patch!

Wild garden gallery

Here are some of your submissions to Go WILD for Hedgehogs; some new wild patches and some more established ones to give you some inspiration!

Ann’s Tyne and Wear garden boasts an array of wildflowers, shrubs and even a visiting hedgehog!

The long grass in Emily’s South Yorkshire garden will provide shelter and nesting opportunities, plus the log piles will attract creepy crawly prey.

Jessica’s wonderfully wild Norfolk garden offers a myriad of places for hedgehogs to shelter and forage.

A brilliant ‘before’ shot. Victoria plans to turn her new garden into a wildlife haven, complete with hedgehog highways and wild patches. Can’t wait to see your progress!

Michael’s wild Norfolk garden features a log pile and fern to provide cover. After adding a few plants and features, Michael has left the garden to nature and says it’s ‘alive with insects’ – the hedgehogs will thank you!

Hedgehog