Animal friendly garden

chriscavell0683

Hi all
Christmas before last, our lovely elderly neighbour passed away and around this time last year the new couple moved in.
They have removed every single shrub, tree and flower from both the front and back gardens (some of those plants were old and expensive) and they have basically scalped the lawn. I have a few plants that I put in this year and we have a cherry and plum tree (and an apple tree at the back but she's had her big hair cut this year so won't do much until next year). 
The sides of the garden are quite sheltered, and will be more so when they put in their 6ft fence, and very heavy clay and stone. This area used to be strawberry fields according to one of the other neighbours. 
I don't have the strength to dig and make the borders any wider and we need the lawn for our daughter to play on.
I don't have a lot of money for pots and soil and more plants as I spend most of my monthly budget on the fruit and veg.

What can I do to help the wildlife? I know there used to be slow worms in her garden (we do get some) and birds nested in her shrubs at the far end but they don't have any homes now and obviously there are fewer resources for the bees etc.

Any help appreciated

Dovefromabove

Make a compost heap in a quiet corner ... the slow worms will find it, frogs and toads will love it and it will contain bugs and insects which will attract birds as well.  Hang some bird feeders in your trees  and put a birdbath nearby (a birdbath attracts even more birds than feeders do, especially at this time of year);  birds like to know there's somewhere to hide near to where they're bathing or feeding, and attracting them to your fruit trees means that they'll also hoover up any aphids that lurk there.  

A large plastic pot saucer with a stone in it will do as a bird bath ... or an upturned dustbin lid propped up on bricks ... it's the water thats important. 

chriscavell0683

The only issue with bird feeders that I have is the rats and mice. I have nothing against them but need to be a bit careful with a 5 year old running around. We do have a compost bin already by the shed, will that do a similar job for the slow worms?

Nanny Beach

We don't get rats and mice with the bird feeders.seeds,maybe rake out a bit of grass,get some wildflowers going,that will seed themselves.Lidl and Aldi if you have them are a great place for seeds,cheap plants,veg plants,get your own veg growing.we will send seeds on here for the price of a stamp,or even free.Our local tip had a shop,with lots of garden bits for pennies, Freecycle and Facebook often have free pots, baskets, containers

FritillariaScotland

You can also make a micro pond from an old washing up bowl. It's a great project to get kids involved in, my two teenagers got right into it!
https://www.rspb.org.uk/get-involved/activities/nature-on-your-doorstep/garden-activities/createaminipond/

chriscavell0683

Nanny Beach said:

We don't get rats and mice with the bird feeders.seeds,maybe rake out a bit of grass,get some wildflowers going,that will seed themselves.Lidl and Aldi if you have them are a great place for seeds,cheap plants,veg plants,get your own veg growing.we will send seeds on here for the price of a stamp,or even free.Our local tip had a shop,with lots of garden bits for pennies, Freecycle and Facebook often have free pots, baskets, containers

We already have a mouse in the garden and I've seen a rat passing through. House at the end of our garden has chickens and he leave unwanted eggs and food everywhere. I don't want to encourage them into ours more than necessary haha.
Found one hiding out in the shed when the weather was bad (no others in sight anywhere) but frightened it off.