As natural habitats and environments disappear, so do wildlife species. This is where individual gardeners can play a huge part in eco-protection. Turning a home garden into a haven for wildlife not only ensures that birds, insects and small mammals have a safe place to live and breed but also provides a pleasant environment in which to spend warm, sunny afternoons.

The principle behind the wildlife garden is to establish a balance between garden pests and their natural predators by creating an attractive environment in which they can feed and breed. If you have aphids on your roses, for example, attract ladybirds. if you have a slug problem, call in the birds and frogs. It also means planting native species, meadow flowers and letting plants go to seed. While the garden does not have to be messy, it does mean saying goodbye to a perfect lawn and the perfectly trimmed box hedge.

However, the wildlife garden can be infinitely attractive. Features such as vine-covered fences and snags (dead trees), hanging baskets filled with fragrant nectar-producing plants, wild flowers, seed heads and tall grasses, shady spots in which to sit, bird feeders and nest boxes will all attract birds, bees and butterflies and create an interesting garden landscape even in the winter months.

So, how do you keep the birds chirping and the butterflies flitting in your garden? Like us, wildlife species look for food, shelter and a safe place to raise a family. Berry-producing plants are an excellent source of food for birds and you can also provide them with natural food by letting some of your plants go to seed. Nest boxes and a bird feeder will all convince the birds to make their home in your garden.

Butterflies love the sun so attract them by planting nectar-producing plants such as Coneflowers and Shasta Daisies in the sunniest spot of your garden and place some attractive stones to absorb the heat. The butterflies will have a place to both eat and bask in the sun.

Water is important too, and having a water feature—a pond if possible but a birdbath or a bowl of water can be fine too—will attract the birds and maybe also dragonflies and a small frog that’ll gobble up those pesky slugs. Shelter can be provided by keeping a pile of logs in a hidden corner of the garden which also provide a source of food for insects. Insects, in turn, are a source of food for other creatures. You might even attract a woodpecker or a slug-hungry hedgehog.

Diversity is the key to attracting wildlife. The more diverse the natural habitat, the more species you’ll attract. Perhaps nothing in the garden provides more diversity than the hedgerow. It is a mini-ecosystem that can become a place to nest, find food and shelter. For the gardener, it creates privacy and a perfect backdrop for an eco-friendly garden.

Attracting butterflies to your garden is easy as long as you provide them with the right environment: shelter, food and water.

The key to getting butterflies to adopt your garden as their home is to plant brightly-colored, nectar-producing annuals and perennials. Butterflies love strong colored blossoms, and especially those that produce sweet nectar they can feed on. All shades of pinks and purples, oranges, reds and yellows will act like a butterfly magnet. When choosing perennial seeds, be sure to include plants that flower in sequence so that the butterflies have a source of food throughout the flowering season. A wildflower mix is an excellent choice, as are brightly colored coneflowers, zinnias, blanketflowers, coreopsis and hollyhock. If you’re lucky, they’ll attract hummingbirds too.

Since it’s the large clusters of brightly colored blooms that attract butterflies, some color coordination is needed when you are planting the seeds so that you get large blocks of color next to each other in the flower bed. You should also choose the sunniest spot in the garden -- one that gets at least 5-6 hours of sun -- because the adult butterflies love nothing better than to soak up nectar from a brightly colored bloom that’s drenched in sunlight. Butterflies need the warmth in order to “recharge their batteries” and get the strength to fly. If possible, place a few decorative heat-absorbing rocks close to the flowerbed to give the butterflies a warm place to rest on. Butterflies don’t drink from birdbaths or containers of water, so to provide them with a source of water you need to create little puddles of water in your garden for them to drink from and congregate around.

Most species of adult butterfly live for only ten to twenty days, so to have a constant butterfly presence in your garden you need to provide a source of food for the caterpillars that will eventually hatch out. Caterpillars eat plant leaves and they are capable of defoliating a plant so take that into account in your planning! Many plants that could be considered as weeds, such as dandelions, thistles and nettles provide excellent sources of food for caterpillars.

And a word of warning about using insecticides in the butterfly friendly garden – just say no!