4 Fun DIY's to Create a Home for Wildlife in Your Garden!

1. DIY Bee Bath

This bee bath looks so pretty in the garden and you're also helping out the bees and the environment, it’s a win for everyone. Attracting bees to your garden is important as they are one of the biggest factors to keeping your garden blooming and full of fresh fruit and veg.

You will need;

• Plant pot
• A range of medium-small smooth stones
• A shallow dish/bowl
• Fresh water

Instructions:

1. You want the bath to be in a shaded area and near blooming flowers, veg, or fruit.
2. Once you’ve chosen a spot, place the plant pot upside down in the soil and add the shallow dish on top, balancing it evenly so it’s secure.
3. Add the stones and fresh water.
4. Make sure to change the water daily and clean the shallow dish weekly.

2. DIY Bee House

I love finding simple DIY’s like this that also benefit the bee community. This creative project can be twisted to your own personal taste and is also a great activity for you and the whole family this summer.

You will need:

• A tin (cleaned and dry) or an old mug
• Spray paint (if you want to add color)
• Rolls of paper or hollow bamboo sticks
• Twine
• Nails and hammer or super glue

Instructions:

1. Using the color of your choice, spray paint your tin (ensure you do it outside).
2. Once fully dried, if using nails and hammer, create a hole at the bottom of the tin towards the edge and need through the twin to the opening.
3. If using glue, glue the twine into the middle on the rounded side of the tin.
4. If using a mug, simply tie the twine through the handle, ensuring it’s secure.
5. Add the rolls of paper or hollow bamboo stick into the tin.
6. Once finished, tie the twine to a steady branch or wherever you had in mind and you're done! Enjoy!

3. Butterfly Nectar

My mum loves butterflies, she says they’re a symbol of the ones we’ve lost, so we’ve been looking for a way to attract them to our garden for a while. Then we found this simple DIY.

You will need:

• Sponges
• 1 Cup water
• ¼ Granulated sugar
• Twine

Instructions:

1. Add the sugar to the water and bring to boil for about five minutes or until sugar has dissolved.
2. Let the mixture cool.
3. Cut the sponges in half and poke a hole in at the top.
4. Thread the twine through and leave enough thread to tie around the branch.
5. Soak the sponges in the mixture for about five minutes before proceeding to tie it to a steady branch or anywhere else you plan on hanging this DIY.

4. DIY Popsicle Bird House

During the summer, I always end up throwing out a bunch of sticks from ice lollies so I was looking for a way to make these into something useful. This DIY is so fun and creative, whilst giving nature a home in your garden.

You will need:

• Popsicle sticks
• Acrylic paint (if you want to add some color)
• Hot glue gun or gorilla glue
• Twine
• Bird food

Instructions:

1. Line up ten sticks in a row making sure they’re even and a lined. (Make sure the one stick reaches the same length across the lined up sticks, if not, add or decrease the number of lined sticks.)
2. Repeat laying out the sticks and gluing a stick along the top and the bottom (do this twice) Place the two platforms together with another stick in between the two edges, creating a triangle and it will resemble a roof.
3. Place the glue along the bottom and the top of the sticks, then lay another stick over both trails of glue.
4. Repeat on the other sides which you haven’t glued.
5. To build the walls of the birdhouse, place some glue on each corner and lay the lolly sticks on top.
6. Repeat this until you’ve reached about seven layers.
7. Glue a stick upright on each corner of the house (acting as pillars).
8. Glue the roof that we made in step two onto the pillars.
9. Glue each end of a twine string on either side of the roof and once dried you are ready to hang it on a steady branch.
10. Once hanging, add a decent amount of bird food into the house, and you’re done!