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How to make your garden hedgehog-safe
Turn your garden into a safe haven for one of nature’s most beloved nocturnal visitors.
Hedgehogs are one of the most iconic garden visitors. With their adorable snouts and quiet rustling habits, they’re easy to love, but they’re also increasingly in trouble. In recent decades, hedgehog populations have plummeted due to habitat loss, road traffic, pesticides, and fenced-in gardens that block their natural roaming routes.
Luckily, your garden can help.
By making a few changes, most of them small and inexpensive, you can transform your outdoor space into a mini nature reserve that’s not only safe for hedgehogs but actively supports them throughout the year.
Open the Borders: Hedgehog Highways
Hedgehogs are natural wanderers. A single hedgehog can roam over a kilometre in one night in search of food, mates, or nesting spots. But many gardens are enclosed with solid fencing or brick walls, effectively creating green prisons.
What you can do:
- Create a hole at the bottom of your fence or wall: 13 x 13 cm is perfect (that’s about the size of a CD case).
- These “hedgehog highways” allow safe travel between gardens, forming a patchwork of habitat.
- Talk to your neighbours! The more connected your street becomes, the more viable it is for hedgehogs.
Bonus tip: If you rent or can’t make permanent changes, see if you can lift a fence panel slightly, or create a removable tunnel with bricks or logs.
Remove Hidden Dangers
A garden can look peaceful and welcoming, but for a hedgehog, it may hide some deadly surprises.
Common garden hazards:
- Ponds and water features
Hedgehogs are good swimmers, but they must be able to climb out. Steep, slippery edges are a death trap.
Solution: Add a ramp, a pile of stones, or a shallow edge with a gentle slope. - Netting and mesh
Loose netting on the ground can entangle hedgehogs.
Solution: Store it away or raise it 30 cm off the ground. - Garden tools and strimmers
Hedgehogs often hide in long grass or under leaves, exactly where strimmers and forks go.
Solution: Always check before mowing, strimming or digging. - Bonfires and compost heaps
These are tempting nest spots. Lighting an old pile could cause tragedy.
Solution: Rebuild your bonfire just before lighting, or use a hedgehog-safe method like a raised fire pit. - Slug pellets and poisons
These are a big problem, directly or indirectly through poisoned prey.
Solution: Use natural deterrents like crushed eggshells, beer traps, or copper tape. Encourage frogs, birds and hedgehogs to control pests naturally.
Shelter from the Storm: Nesting and Hibernation
Hedgehogs don’t live in permanent homes like foxes or badgers. They build nests for sleeping, raising young, or hibernating, and these nests need to be dry, safe, and well hidden.
Provide:
- A log pile or leaf pile in a quiet corner of your garden. These are perfect for daytime rest or winter hibernation.
- A hedgehog house: You can buy or build one, a wooden box with a tunnel entrance works well. Line with leaves or hay, and place it against a wall or under a hedge.
- Compost heaps: Use with care. They provide warmth and shelter but are often disturbed. Mark them clearly if hedgehogs might be nesting inside.
- Seasonal tip: Don’t tidy too much in autumn, that pile of leaves might be someone’s winter home.
Feeding and Watering: Support Without Dependency
Hedgehogs naturally eat insects, worms, and slugs. But in urban areas, their diet can become scarce, especially in dry periods or during breeding season.
Best food to offer:
- Meaty wet cat or dog food
- Dry kitten biscuits
- Fresh water (always available!)
Never give:
- Milk (they’re lactose intolerant)
- Bread (low in nutrients)
- Mealworms in excess (can cause calcium imbalance)
- Hedgehog food (often contains indigestible or toxic ingredients)
Feeding station tip:
Place food in a shallow dish inside a plastic box with a hole cut in the side. Add a brick on top to prevent cats and foxes from stealing the meal.
Wild by Design: Gardening for Hedgehogs
A hedgehog-friendly garden doesn’t have to be messy, just varied, natural, and welcoming to insects.
What helps:
- Native plants that attract beetles, caterpillars and worms.
- Mixed planting levels: shrubs, flowers, ground cover.
- Real lawns or meadow areas: Avoid artificial grass and plastic mulch.
- Compost bins: Great for bugs, and thus, for hedgehogs.
Avoid heavy use of gravel, paving, or decking. Hedgehogs like to dig, root and scurry under cover. Think like a hedgehog: where would you hide?
Keep the Lights Low
Hedgehogs are nocturnal. Bright lighting confuses them, changes their patterns, and may expose them to predators.
Lighting tips:
- Use motion-sensor lights instead of constant lighting.
- Avoid strong white LED lights in areas where hedgehogs feed or nest.
- Shield lights so they only illuminate what’s needed (e.g. a path).
Bonus: Your whole garden feels wilder and more atmospheric at night!
Be a Citizen Scientist: Observe and Record
Seeing a hedgehog is always a magical moment, and it’s also valuable data.
How to help:
- Install a wildlife camera or trail cam in your garden.
- Report sightings to a local wildlife group or a national hedgehog survey.
- Mark hedgehog holes with signage (you can download a printable sign).
- Note where and when you see activity — and whether you see juveniles, pairs, or sick individuals.
Remember: Never pick up a hedgehog unless it’s clearly injured, underweight, or in immediate danger. If in doubt, contact a wildlife rescue.
Conclusion: Every Garden Counts
You don’t need a huge space or a wild jungle to help hedgehogs. Even a small backyard, balcony with plants, or shared green corridor can make a difference.
By making your garden hedgehog-safe, you’re not only helping a species in trouble, you’re creating a richer, more vibrant outdoor space for yourself and countless other creatures. And who knows? You might wake up one morning to the happy news that a hedgehog has decided to move in.