Start With What You Have

A balcony four floors up, a windswept courtyard behind a harbour terrace, or a strip of gravel outside a tidal cottage — none of these need to be wildlife deserts. Some of the richest garden habitats I have seen in coastal towns are no bigger than a dining table. What matters is not the size of the space but whether you provide the four things every creature needs: food, water, shelter and somewhere safe to breed.

Begin by watching. Spend a week noting where the sun falls and when, how hard the wind hits, whether salt spray reaches the leaves, and what already visits. A south-facing wall will roast in July and shelter carder bees; a narrow north-facing balcony will suit ferns, wood anemones and shade-loving mosses. Once you know your conditions, you can plant for them rather than against them — and everything that follows becomes far easier.

Choose Plants That Belong Here

Native and near-native plants support far more insects than most garden exotics, because our pollinators and caterpillars evolved alongside them. In coastal and estuary settings, choose species that cope with wind and salt.

• For nectar and pollen: sea thrift, viper's bugloss, common knapweed, oxeye daisy, bird's-foot trefoil and purple loosestrife (for a damp corner or large trough).
• For scent and the kitchen: rosemary, thyme, oregano, chives, mint and borage. All are superb pollinator plants and all will earn their place on a plate.
• For structure and seed heads: teasel, fennel, sedum and ornamental grasses. Leave the seed heads standing through winter — goldfinches will strip teasel and lavender well into January.
• For shade and shelter: foxgloves, hardy geraniums, ivy (brilliant for late-season nectar and roosting bats) and native honeysuckle.

In small spaces, plant in layers: a low carpet of creeping thyme, mid-height flowers, and one or two taller plants or a small shrub such as a crab apple or a dwarf willow. Even a single window box 30cm deep and 60cm wide, crammed with trailing nasturtium and upright lavender, will pull in bees from a surprising distance.

Water, Shelter and a Little Mess

Water is the single most valuable thing you can add. A shallow dish, a saucer sunk into a pot, or a proper bird bath all work. Keep it 2–3cm deep with gently sloping sides so nothing drowns, and add a few pebbles or a piece of brick for insects to land on. Refresh it daily in hot weather; birds will use it for drinking and bathing, and hedgehogs, frogs and thirsty bees will find it too.

Shelter can be as simple as a dense shrub, a bundle of hollow canes tied for solitary bees, or a small pile of stones and dead wood in a corner. Resist the urge to tidy everything. Seed heads, fallen leaves and a patch of unmown grass are habitat, not neglect. On a windswept balcony, a woven willow screen or a planter of tough grasses will break the wind enough for butterflies to settle.

Feed the Birds, and Feed Them Well

Feeding stations are lovely to watch, but they carry responsibility. Choose good-quality food: sunflower hearts suit almost everything, nyjer attracts goldfinches, and peanuts should only ever be offered in a mesh feeder, never whole, especially in spring when chicks are being reared.

• Clean feeders and baths weekly with hot soapy water, rinse thoroughly, and let them dry before refilling.
• Move feeders occasionally to stop droppings and discarded husks building up in one spot.
• Provide a nest box facing north or east, out of direct sun and away from a window, fixed 2–4m up with a clear flight path.
• Hole sizes matter: 25mm for coal tits, 32mm for house sparrows, and an open-fronted box for robins and wrens.

Fix everything securely. On a balcony, use brackets rather than suction cups, and check pots and feeders before autumn gales and again after storms.

Compost, Sprays and the Soil Beneath

Peat extraction destroys some of our finest wildlife habitats, and peat-free composts are now genuinely good. Look for mixes based on bark, coir, wood fibre or green waste, and add homemade compost or well-rotted leaf mould to hold moisture through dry coastal summers.

Skip chemical sprays and slug pellets altogether. If slugs become a problem, use ferric phosphate pellets sparingly, or simply accept some holes — they are food for thrushes and slow worms. Encourage natural predators instead: ladybirds, hoverflies, lacewings and ground beetles all thrive where there is a little cover and no poison. A healthy soil, mulched and left undisturbed, will do more for your plants than any bottle.

A Kitchen Harvest by the Coast

Wildlife-friendly gardening and eating well are the same project. A few pots of rosemary, thyme and mint will feed you and the bees, and they shrug off salt wind better than most tender herbs. Add a blueberry in ericaceous peat-free compost, a compact apple or fig for a sheltered wall, and nasturtium flowers for salads.

If you forage along the estuary, take only what you will use, never uproot a plant, and leave plenty for the birds and for next year. Wash everything thoroughly, and be certain of your identification before it reaches the pan. A balcony that hums with bees, a bath that draws a blackbird at dusk and a handful of herbs cut for supper — that is a wildlife garden, however small the patch.