How to look after garden wildlife during a heatwave

Last Sunday, in a hide at the RSPB Rye Meads Nature Reserve just north of London, I sat quietly waiting for a kingfisher. Eventually, my patience was rewarded; a kingfisher appeared, settling on a weathered branch above a still pool.

For a few seconds, a dozen strangers collectively forgot to breathe, before the chorus of camera shutters broke the silence, each trying to capture that luminous blue.

The hide is tucked beneath mature trees, the pools fringed with reeds and the wildflowers alive with insects. Even on yet another “hottest day of the year”, there was shade, cool water and plenty of insects and fish to eat. Every corner of the landscape offered wildlife something it needed: water, food, shelter or respite from the midday sun.

A kingfisher perches at Rye Meads

A kingfisher perches at RSPB Rye Meads – Nigel Sawyer/Alamy

As someone who has worked as a gardener in both Italy and Britain, I’ve learnt that midsummer is often the point when a garden begins to reveal how resilient it really is. June’s floral exuberance gives way to July’s endurance. Lawns turn brown (please, don’t water them), borders begin to lose their spring verdancy and pots seem to dry out almost as quickly as you’ve doused them.

While many of us relish the sunshine, prolonged heat is hard work for gardens, and harder still for the wildlife that depends upon them. As Britain experiences more frequent periods of hot, dry weather, our gardens can become vital refuges. They don’t need to be sprawling country estates, carefully managed nature reserves or, indeed, a purpose-built kingfisher hide. Even the smallest urban garden, courtyard or balcony can provide water, shelter and food when natural habitats come under pressure.

Water first Water is the most important thing we can provide

Water is the most important thing we can provide – iStockphoto

Fresh water is the simplest and most important thing we can provide. During a heatwave, a shallow dish or bird bath can quickly become one of the busiest places in the garden, attracting birds, hedgehogs, bees, butterflies and amphibians.

The RSPB recommends adding a few stones or pebbles so that butterflies and other insects have somewhere to perch while drinking, while gentle edges help hedgehogs, frogs and toads climb safely in and out.

Refresh the water every day or two, particularly during hot spells, and clean bird baths regularly to reduce the spread of disease.

Common chaffinch in a bird bath

Bird baths should be refreshed regularly in hot weather – Ray Kennedy/iStockphoto

Let the garden breathe

Our instinct is often to tidy, mow and trim. Wildlife usually prefers the opposite.

Long grass holds on to moisture for longer than a closely clipped lawn, while hedges, dense shrubs, log piles and slightly untidy corners create cooler pockets where insects, amphibians and birds can escape the fiercest afternoon heat. The most hospitable gardens are rarely the most immaculate.

“Extreme heat is not just a risk to people – it can also be incredibly challenging for garden birds, mammals and other wildlife,” says Zoe Quiroz Cullen, head of climate and international policy at charity federation the Wildlife Trusts.

“As climate change brings more frequent and intense heatwaves to the UK, the places animals call home are coming under increasing pressure, leaving many species with fewer places to find the food, water and shelter they need.

“Our gardens, balconies, school grounds, workplaces and community green spaces can become lifelines for wildlife,” she says.

Sometimes the kindest thing a gardener can do is put the secateurs away for a few weeks. A little more shade, a little more cover and a little less perfection can make all the difference.

Empty pathway surrounded by plants and bushes

Shaded refuges will provide birds and small mammals with cooling cover – Klaus Vedfelt

Feed wisely

The Wildlife Trusts generally advises against putting out seeds and peanuts and suet between May and October, as adult birds should forage naturally for the protein-rich insects they feed to their chicks. During prolonged hot weather, however, the rules change a little.

“As the ground bakes, birds such as blackbirds struggle to reach earthworms beneath the surface,” says Quiroz Cullen. “Drier conditions can also reduce insect numbers, leaving species such as swifts with fewer insects to feed their chicks during the breeding season.”

In these conditions, then, birds can benefit from small amounts of suitable supplementary food, such as suet or rehydrated mealworms, while they are raising young.

Mealworms

Rehydrated mealworms are beneficial for birds – Michelle Mahlke-Sloniecki/iStockphoto

Whatever you provide, offer only enough to be eaten quickly, as food spoils much faster in the heat.

The RSPB also stresses the importance of good hygiene. Wash feeders with hot, soapy water at least once a week to reduce the spread of diseases such as trichomonosis.

The Ethical Gardener: Ideas and Actions for Greener Living by Thomas Rutter (£16.99, HarperCollins) is published on August 13 2026

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