Gardens will attract robins if you stop doing 1 gardening job this autumn

Households are being urged to stop doing one co job if they want to attract more robins and blackbirds to their gardens

Vita Molyneux Travel reporter

10:03, 01 Oct 2025

Robins will keep coming back(Image: sandra standbridge via Getty Images)

With the colder months now drawing near, many Brits are examining their gardens and getting ready for winter. One typical autumn job is pruning and deadheading, but specialists are advising gardeners to skip it this year.

If you’re hoping to attract more wildlife like robins to your garden, then leaving it untouched could be the secret. Garden wildlife specialist Lucy Taylor from Vine House Farm Bird Foods has revealed some of her best advice for boosting the number of birds to your outdoor space.

This first tip requires virtually no work, reports the Express.

She explained: “Whilst you might want to trim longer stems off and those with dead flower heads during the autumn, leaving perennial plants in beds and pots to rot down naturally during the winter months has a great benefit to wildlife – and also helps enrich soil.

Robins will keep coming back if they have a food source(Image: mauribo via Getty Images)

“The benefit to wildlife comes from the fact that the ground immediately below the rotting vegetation is at least partly protected from frost, with this allowing invertebrates such as insects to shelter or hibernate, which in turn become food for birds.

“Worms will also remain closer to the surface of the protected ground as they consume the rotting vegetation, which then also makes them food for birds, including robins and blackbirds.”,

You can also skip the raking too – fantastic news for those with less enthusiasm for garden maintenance.

Raking might make your outdoor space look neat and organised but it requires considerable effort and also, according to Lucy, isn’t as beneficial for wildlife.

Robins need extra care in winter(Image: Tonini Grbavac / 500px via Getty Images)

She explained: “In the same way that invertebrates use the dead foliage of the perennial plants for protection and food, the same is true for leaves.

“So create piles of leaves in the corners of your garden, spread them onto borders, or, with the exceptions of paths and patios, just let them remain where they’ve fallen.”