Attracting Hedgehogs into Your Garden with Simple Changes

Why Hedgehogs Need a Helping Hand

Hedgehogs are one of Britain's most charming nocturnal visitors, but their numbers have fallen sharply in recent decades. Habitat loss, busy roads, and tidy gardens have all played a part. The good news is that our gardens can act as vital stepping stones, offering food, shelter, and safe passage. With a few simple changes, you can turn your outdoor space into a genuine hedgehog haven — and you will be rewarded with the rustle of leaves and the occasional glimpse of a spiny forager at dusk.

Open Up a Hedgehog Highway

Hedgehogs can travel up to two kilometres in a night, but they cannot get through solid fences or walls. A single gap in your boundary can connect your garden to your neighbours', creating a network of safe routes. The ideal gap is a 13cm square — roughly the size of a CD case — cut at ground level.

• Cut a small hole in the bottom of a fence panel or gate, or lift a gravel board slightly.
• Talk to your neighbours about doing the same, so the highway continues down the street.
• Avoid using concrete gravel boards, which are impossible for hedgehogs to dig under.
• If you have a wall, consider leaving a small tunnel or removing a brick at ground level.

Even a single gap can make a real difference. Hedgehogs are creatures of habit, and they will quickly learn to use a regular route.

Offer Shelter and Safe Havens

By day, hedgehogs need somewhere cool, dark, and undisturbed to sleep. A wild corner, a pile of logs, or a stack of leaves can provide the perfect nest. In autumn, they will seek out hibernation sites, so leaving a little mess is genuinely helpful.

• Build a log pile in a shady spot — leave the bottom logs undisturbed.
• Create a leaf pile or a compost heap; both offer warmth and insects.
• Leave a patch of long grass or nettles to provide cover and natural food.
• Install a purpose-built hedgehog house, placed in a quiet corner and covered with leaves.

Be careful with garden machinery. Always check long grass before strimming, and move piles of cuttings by hand. Hedgehogs also drown in drains and become tangled in netting, so cover any open drains and store netting well above ground.

Food, Water and the Slug Pellet Problem

Hedgehogs are natural pest controllers, feasting on beetles, caterpillars, earthworms, and slugs. But they are also vulnerable to poisoned prey. Never use slug pellets — they contain metaldehyde or ferric phosphate, both of which can be fatal to hedgehogs. Instead, try nematodes, beer traps, copper tape, or simply hand-picking slugs after rain.

A shallow dish of fresh water is one of the most important things you can provide, especially during dry spells. Use a sturdy dish with a lip no more than 2cm high, and place it at ground level. Never give hedgehogs milk or bread — milk causes diarrhoea, and bread has no nutritional value.

If you want to offer supplementary food, use meat-based cat or dog food (in jelly, not gravy) or a specialist hedgehog food. Put it out at dusk in a shallow dish, and remove any leftovers the next morning to avoid attracting rats. Clean the dish regularly.

Plant British Woodland Favourites

Native woodland plants are perfect for a hedgehog-friendly garden. They support the insects that hedgehogs eat, provide cover, and create the dappled, leaf-littered conditions these animals love. Many are shade-tolerant and will thrive under trees or along a north-facing border.

• Bluebells — their spring flowers attract early pollinators, and their bulbs sit safely underground.
• Wood anemone — a low-growing woodland carpet that shelters small beetles.
• Foxgloves — tall spires that draw in moths and bees, and their leaves offer hiding places.
• Honeysuckle — night-scented flowers attract moths, a favourite hedgehog snack.
• Ferns — provide dense, cool cover at ground level.
• Wild garlic — its leaves create a fragrant, insect-rich ground layer in shady spots.

Plant these in groups, and allow fallen leaves to remain beneath them. The resulting leaf litter is a haven for beetles, worms, and other invertebrates — a natural larder for your nocturnal visitors.

A Year-Round Commitment

Helping hedgehogs is not a one-off task. In spring, they emerge hungry and thirsty, so keep water available and avoid disturbing potential nests. In summer, maintain your hedgehog highway and leave wild corners untouched. In autumn, build up leaf piles and check bonfires before lighting them — a pile of wood is an irresistible hibernation spot. In winter, keep a shallow dish of water ice-free if you can, and resist the urge to tidy every fallen leaf.

Small changes add up. A gap in the fence, a dish of water, a corner left wild, and a ban on slug pellets — together these create a garden where hedgehogs can not only visit, but thrive. You may not see them often, but the quiet rustle at dusk will tell you they are there.