Backyard biodiversity: easy ways for families to nurture nature at home this summer
Build a bug hotel together
Summer is the perfect time to reconnect with nature, and your own garden offers endless opportunities. Danielle Simpson, Sales Director at Pye Homes, shares her top tips to help families embrace biodiversity through hands-on garden activities.
Creating a bug hotel offers a great start. Children can gather natural materials like twigs, leaves and bark to build cosy hideouts for bugs and minibeasts. Old bricks, pallets or wooden boxes make the perfect base. Filling the gaps with hollow stems and dry grass encourages creatures like ladybirds, woodlice and solitary bees to move in. Even frogs and hedgehogs may stop by. Add a log pile in a shady spot to attract beetles, centipedes and curious garden visitors like birds and toads.
Grow produce with a personal patch
Planting fruit, vegetables and flowers brings learning and fun outdoors. Encourage little ones to design and care for their own garden patch. They can make colourful plant markers with paint and recycled craft materials to add personality.
Try fast-growing sunflowers for a fun family race. Dahlias, marigolds and lavender provide colour and attract pollinators. Strawberries, raspberries and blackberries are great for snack plates, while lettuce, radishes and tomatoes make perfect BBQ sides. The experience helps children understand where food comes from while supporting garden biodiversity.
Upcycled crafts for creative play
Turn recycling into something magical with fun garden projects. Use old bottles or toilet roll tubes to craft bird feeders. Fill with seeds and hang from a tree to watch birds flock in. Decorate tin cans and use them as flowerpots or veggie planters. Painted rocks can mark out a vegetable patch or become part of a scavenger hunt. Plastic bottles also transform into child-sized watering cans with a few holes and a splash of paint.
Add a wildlife water station
Water supports garden wildlife beyond birds. A simple dish with gravel and shallow water provides butterflies, toads and frogs with a safe place to drink and cool off. This easy step helps all creatures stay healthy during hot days.
Make your own seed balls
Seed balls are a fun way to scatter nature around your garden. Mix wildflower seeds with compost and clay soil, then roll into small balls and leave to dry in the sun. Children can throw them across the lawn and watch nature flourish.
These simple, sustainable ideas help families spend quality time outside while boosting garden biodiversity. For more tips visit www.pyehomes.co.uk