How to rewild your garden and invite native nature back in

Gifting back conditions in which wildlife can thrive makes a difference to gardens of all sizes, even in the suburbs

Urban foxes are just one of the new arrivals that will favour a garden with easy passage in and out through hedging rather than closed fencing. Pictures: iStock

Most of us are familiar with Google Maps and the satellite (photo) views it’s capable of. I took a little virtual flight over Ballinlough in Cork, and was struck again by the amount of emerald in view. 

Adding up all those private little squares, slivers and rectangles of garden — there’s a lot of green space in that one parish. When you think of all our gardens in that wider area, all providing small fence-bounded environments for animals and birds — it’s really quite exciting.