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Nancy Birtwhistle has shown a hedgehog-friendly garden on TikTok, saying two hedgehogs visit each night. Experts cited by Ideal Home point to its pesticide-free planting, undisturbed wild patch and hedgehog house as practical features, while recommending safe food and water, garden checks and routes through fences.
Nancy Birtwhistle has shared a hedgehog-friendly garden on TikTok, where she says two hedgehogs visit each night. In a report, Ideal Home highlights the garden’s wild patch, hedgehog house and lack of pesticide use, with wildlife specialists pointing to these features as ways householders can make outdoor spaces more supportive for hedgehogs.
Birtwhistle says she leaves out food and fresh water for the visiting animals. Her garden also includes an undisturbed, rough area and a hedgehog house, while she says she does not use pesticides. Ideal Home’s report presents those choices as a practical example, rather than evidence that one garden design alone can reverse wider population declines.
A wild corner can offer cover, insects and nesting material, according to the report. Insects are a core part of hedgehogs’ diet, and leaf and log piles can provide places to hide. A hedgehog house, placed in a quiet, sheltered part of the garden, may offer protection from cold, wind and rain.
The experts also recommend checking piles of garden waste and vegetation before using a strimmer or lighting a bonfire, since hedgehogs may be sheltering in them. For supplementary feeding, Julia Sixsmith advises a little meaty cat or dog food and a shallow dish of water. She warns against bread and milk and recommends keeping feeding bowls clean.
Small Gardens Can Offer Safer Habitat
The report connects Birtwhistle’s example to pressures faced by hedgehogs beyond any single garden. Dr Emily Lambert, a conservation scientist and founder of Seedball, says threats include habitat loss, roads and accidental harm from garden machinery and ponds. The Great Britain Mammal Red List classifies hedgehogs as vulnerable to extinction; globally, the European hedgehog is rated near threatened by the IUCN, according to the source.
Gardeners’ choices can affect both shelter and food. Avoiding pesticides can reduce the risk of direct exposure and help preserve the insects hedgehogs eat, while a wild patch can provide cover. These steps do not remove broader hazards, but the specialists say they can make gardens more welcoming and safer for wildlife.
Connectivity matters too. Fences and walls can block movement between gardens, restricting access to food and shelter. The report says adult hedgehogs can roam up to 3 kilometres in a night; a small opening in a fence can help link gardens into a route through the neighbourhood.
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What Birtwhistle’s Garden Includes
Ideal Home’s report describes the garden through Birtwhistle’s TikTok video and comments from wildlife specialists. Its central features are a pesticide-free approach, a rough garden area and a hedgehog house, alongside food and water. The article presents them as measures readers can adapt, not as a formal certification or a complete wildlife-garden standard.
Lambert says hedgerow loss and the replacement of garden hedges with fences or walls can remove habitat and restrict movement. She supports adding a hedgehog highway—a gap in a fence that allows animals to pass between gardens. Sixsmith, founder of Hindley Hedgehog Help and an ambassador for Dino Decking’s Hedgehog Highways campaign, recommends a quiet, sheltered placement for a hedgehog house and dry leaves nearby.
The report also cites a figure from Dino Decking that 61% of gardens contain potential hazards for hedgehogs. It does not state the study’s method, sample or date, so the figure should be read as a company-cited statistic rather than a fully explained national estimate.
“Hedgehogs are the nation’s favourite garden visitor, but they really need our help.”
— Dr Emily Lambert, conservation scientist and founder of Seedball
Limits of the Garden Advice
The source does not give the date of Birtwhistle’s video or the Ideal Home report, nor does it independently verify the number of hedgehogs she says visit each night. The 61% garden-hazard figure is attributed to Dino Decking, but the report gives no research details or definition of a potential hazard.
The report offers general recommendations, not an assessment of Birtwhistle’s garden by an independent wildlife survey. It also does not establish how much any one measure changes hedgehog survival or population trends. The advice should be understood as practical guidance from the named specialists, not a guarantee that hedgehogs will visit or remain safe.
Practical Steps for Gardeners
The report sets out actions readers can take: leave a wild corner, avoid pesticides, provide suitable food and water, and consider a hedgehog house in a quiet, sheltered location. Gardeners can also check vegetation and waste before using machinery or lighting a bonfire, and create a fence opening for a hedgehog highway where appropriate.
Ideal Home does not announce a formal follow-up, survey or new conservation programme. The next steps described are individual garden changes; whether Birtwhistle’s example leads to wider uptake or measurable local effects is not reported.
Key Questions
What makes Nancy Birtwhistle’s garden hedgehog-friendly?
According to Ideal Home’s report, it has a wild, undisturbed patch, a hedgehog house and no pesticide use. Birtwhistle also says she leaves out food and water and that two hedgehogs visit each night.
What food can people leave for hedgehogs?
Julia Sixsmith recommends a small amount of meaty cat or dog food and a shallow dish of fresh water. She advises against bread and milk and says bowls should be kept clean.
Where should a hedgehog house go?
Sixsmith suggests a quiet, sheltered corner, away from busy areas and direct sunlight, with dry leaves nearby for nesting material.
What is a hedgehog highway?
It is a gap in a garden fence that lets hedgehogs move between outdoor spaces. Lambert says these links can help animals reach food and shelter without having to cross roads.
What should gardeners check before using tools or lighting a bonfire?
Check piles of garden waste and vegetation for hedgehogs before using a strimmer, clearing material or lighting a bonfire, as animals may be nesting or sheltering there.
Source: idealhome.co.uk
