Shrubs for attracting wildlife
Shop our range of the best shrubs for attracting wildlife into your garden, perfect for creating an outdoor space that’s buzzing with bees, butterflies, hoverflies, other beneficial insects and birds. Woody shrubs provide an abundance of food for wildlife including nectar-rich flowers, fruits, berries, seeds and nuts, as well as providing valuable shelter from predators, breeding and hibernating spaces and even nesting sites for birds. Our top tip is to grow a wide range of plants with different features – variety and variation is key. Choose a mix of shrubs that produce flowers and berries at different times of the year to sustain the wildlife living in your garden across the seasons. Pay particular attention to incorporating winter berrying varieties such as holly, pyracantha, hawthorn and cotoneaster. These are appreciated by birds when temperatures drop and they move into gardens for sustenance and shelter as food in their usual habitats may be depleted. Many people like to choose native varieties which are undoubtedly valuable, although many non-natives are highly effective too, especially flowering and berrying varieties. Spiny varieties such as berberis and hawthorn provide the best protection from predators, while also acting as an effective, natural intruder-proof barrier for security if used as a perimeter hedge.