Better Living for Wildlife in Urban Areas

Spring is here, and large furniture stores are now luring customers with spectacular special offers. The 2019 home trend: light wood and soft greens. Nature is totally in fashion! But it’s not just humans who are caught up in a springtime frenzy of home improvement. Wildlife is also busy settling in and making itself at home. For many, better living means: into the hedgerow! It is the ideal habitat for hedgehogs, dormice, common toads, bumblebees, wild bees, butterflies and more.

Hedgerows and shrubs also offer a wonderful nesting and feeding spot for birds such as the red-backed shrike, yellowhammer, and dunnock. They find shelter in hedgerows and can raise their young in well-hidden safety. After all, the breeding season begins in April and May.

Eva Goris, press officer of the Deutsche Wildtier Stiftung

Dormice especially need hedgerows that are close together.«These tiny wild animals are not comfortable in open spaces; they prefer to climb from hedgerow to hedgerow to explore new habitats.»That is why the Deutsche Wildtier Stiftung supports hedgerow projects for wildlife and plants wild shrubs — including at the foundation’s estate in Klepelshagen in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern as well as in northern Germany — that serve as «green stepping stones», providing interconnected habitats for small wild animals.

And what do wild animals look for in their «interior design»? «They’re all traditionalists in that respect,» says the press officer. The perfect living space for wildlife is densely branched and bushy. Leafy greenery on the branches, blossoms, and a thick layer of fallen leaves on the ground are also essential. «All of this attracts insects and beetles — an important food source for young birds,» says Eva Goris.

Anyone who wants to plant a hedge in their own garden should choose location-appropriate shrubs such as hazel, cornelian cherry, snowball, spindle tree, sea buckthorn, rowan, elderberry, or rosehip. Particularly popular with birds are hawthorn and blackthorn, because their prickles and thorns provide protection while the plants also bear fruit. Existing hedges must be protected so that wildlife and their young come to no harm. Section 39, paragraph 5 of the Federal Nature Conservation Act states: Hedges may not be cleared, pruned, or cut back during the period from 1 March to 30 September!

How to turn your balcony into a paradise for birds and insects

You don’t necessarily need a garden to help insects and birds. Even on a balcony or windowsill, everyone can do something for the animals in the city. “In Germany there are many millions of balconies and terraces”,says NABU garden expert Marja Rottleb, “That adds up to a lot of space that can be valuable for wild bees, butterflies, tits, and sparrows. Many people already feed birds on their balcony in winter and watch them eat. But you can also help them in summer.”

For example, by offering a water station for birds on hot days. Nest boxes for great tits, blue tits, and house sparrows can also be mounted on the balcony. Those who live on the top floor can even install a nest box for common swifts, helping to ease the housing shortage for building-nesting birds. They like to breed at the highest point of a building.

Insects can also be well supported on a balcony. Anyone who wants to help them should plant a wide variety of native plants and herbs and leave them standing through the winter. “Some insects overwinter in the spent parts of plants”, says Rottleb. “And the seed heads are valuable food for birds such as the goldfinch.“

Suitable plants for a shady balcony include, for example, ivy, forget-me-not, comfrey, and bloody dock. Those with a sunnier balcony should plant lavender, stonecrop, cranesbill, or honeysuckle. “They offer insects pollen and nectar as food – whereas many classic balcony plants, such as geraniums and petunias, do not”, says Rottleb.

A water station or a mini pond also helps hoverflies, wild bees, and others through hot days. Rottleb: “Anyone who also offers an insect hotel and, as a complement, a balcony box filled with sand and clay for mining bees and other solitary bees will soon have a buzzing and humming balcony garden.“