A wildlife retreat

You don't need a huge space to welcome a wide range of wildlife to your garden, as Katrina Roche's small urban garden proves. By maximising your space, you can create habitats for birds, bees, pond life and other creatures

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Despite its relatively small size, Katrina Roche's back garden in Kew, south-west London, is a haven for wildlife, having evolved over three decades to support a host of creatures including nesting birds, pollinating insects and frogs. Like many gardens, it took a while to get the balance right, with a lot of thought going into creating a network of interconnecting habitats between pond and borders, and vertically planted fences with an overspill of greenery from a neighbouring garden.

What was the garden like when you moved here?

That was 32 years ago. It was literally a square of lawn with very narrow borders around the edge and a rather dilapidated shed in the far left-hand corner, which happens to be the sunniest part of the garden. In the middle of the lawn stood a very narrow, 5m-high conifer. That was one of the first things to go. After that, I widened the borders, removed another tree and created a shallow pond with a liner.

Then, about eight years ago, I took out the lawn completely, as I'd been gradually nibbling away at it over time, and replaced it with gravel. This made the borders even deeper - just to fit in more plants, really. At the same time, I installed the rectangular pond, added a pergola and turned the far end of the garden into a seating area to enjoy the sun. Before that, the space wasn't being used to its full potential because the garden faces north. Leaving that area underused for so long was an odd mistake, really. Turning it into a seating area made sense.

What were your biggest challenges?