Whether you have a windowbox, a balcony or acres of garden, you can attract wildlife by making your own mini nature reserve.

If you have a garden you could choose a section to be your wildlife patch. If your space is smaller use a windowbox or pot.

What you need

A container or area of land

Soil or peat-free compost

Broken bits of pots

Gravel

A few plants, such as lavender, rosemary, pansies and scabious

What you do

Put a few bits of broken pot in the bottom of your container to help with drainage.

Fill your container with soil (or dig over the patch of ground). 

Make holes in the soil and pop in your plants. 

Give the soil a good watering and then sprinkle some gravel over the soil to help keep in the moisture. 

Leave your mini garden alone so that insects will visit it knowing they won’t be disturbed. Simply keep an eye on it and soon you should spot bees, butterflies, ladybirds and other mini-beasts paying your nature reserve a visit!