How to turn your garden into a hedgehog haven, according to our readers

Our gardens can be a vital resource for hedgehogs, but today they often lack the natural shelter, resources and safe access between spaces to thrive.

There are plenty of simple things you can do to make yours a haven for these spiny visitors this spring, however, and our readers have lots of insight to share.

From tips on setting up feeding stations and houses to making your own and creating hedgehog highways – a small hole in a fence or other barriers for hedgehogs to pass through, connecting them to other green spaces – here’s advice that has actually worked in gardens up and down the country.

How to get started

If you’re not sure where to begin, the good news is that small, simple changes make a real difference.

Having noticed hedgehog droppings in their garden, Peter Cobbe and his wife, Shirley, from Kent, set up a hedgehog house and a protected feeding station last year. “It was an interesting exercise in ‘build it and they will come’,” he says.

After spending time reading about the lifecycle of hedgehogs and their needs, the couple made their garden more accessible by providing safe nesting material, removing hazards and cutting a 13cm square gap in their wooden gate.

“We have a large green and hedge area opposite our house with lots of trees,” explains Cobbe, which is attractive to these creatures who travel a mile or more every night.

Creating hedgehog highways lets them roam more freely, to find enough food and a mate.

It is important not to disturb hedgehogs, so Cobbe installed a Ring Wi-Fi camera to capture his spiky visitors, costing around £50.