Fish are worth thinking through carefully. Ornamental fish will happily eat frogspawn and tadpoles, so a pond intended mainly for amphibians is usually better left fish-free. Leaving some leaf litter to settle at the bottom over autumn also gives amphibians a place to shelter through the colder months.

Insects overwinter too, tucked into log piles, leaf litter and insect houses left undisturbed until spring. Gardeners preparing shelter ahead of the colder months often look at buy hedgehog houses online options early, so everything is in place before the weather turns.

Birds need consistent feeding through frosty spells, when natural food sources are hardest to find and energy demands are highest. Keeping feeders topped up, and providing water that is not frozen over, matters more in a hard frost than at almost any other point in the year; a small area gently melted with warm water is a better approach than breaking ice by force.

Building a planting scheme with wildlife in mind alongside the usual food and shelter provisions rounds out the picture. A well-stocked feeding station, including a reliable source of bumblebee food, complements planting choices particularly well during gaps in flowering.

For gardens without much bare soil to spare, a ready-made shelter is a simple addition. Many gardeners start with bee hotels positioned in a sheltered, sunny spot close to nectar-rich planting.

Design details matter more than they might appear to. Good insect houses combine hollow stems, such as bamboo or reed, with drilled wood blocks offering a range of hole diameters, roughly 2 to 10mm, since different species use different sized cavities. Natural, untreated materials are preferable to anything varnished or chemically treated.