HAVE you ever thought your garden is too small to attract wildlife? Or that town gardens can't offer much for wildlife?

Well, you'd be surprised at what you can find even in a small town garden - and it doesn't take much effort to make it even more appealing to wildlife.

In our 50ft by 15ft garden in Faversham we have seen bats, sparrowhawks, kestrels, goldfinches, woodpeckers, long-tailed tits, hedgehogs, voles, wood mice, butterflies and numerous other wildlife over the last four years. It has taken just a few simple tasks in the garden to attract them in and encourage their regular visits.

When we moved in, the garden was little more than a lawn with a few large self-seeded ash trees that had grown from seed blown in from a much larger tree growing nearby. Although attractive, these trees were shading out most of the garden and were already far too large for the plot.

We decided to remove them and plant a mixed hedge along both boundaries of the garden. The trees we chose for the hedge were all native species found in the wild in the local area: hawthorn, hazel, field maple, dogwood, guelder rose, spindle and blackthorn.

We knew that by choosing local species grown from Kentish stock, they would do well in our garden and would attract native insects and birds to feed on their nectar and fruit.

The hedge is now thriving and will soon be large enough to provide places for birds to nest.

We have laid pieces of wood and bark from the original ash trees at the base of the hedge to provide shelter for small mammals and insects to use the area.

Since the hedge was planted we have also noticed dunnocks using the area alongside each hedge to forage for food - showing why they are also known as hedge sparrows.

Some of our native plants look very attractive in gardens as well as being good for wildlife. One of these is the teasel - often found on waste ground - a dramatic looking plant which can grow up to 8ft tall. Its seed is a favourite food of goldfinches and within a few months of planting young teasels alongside our hedge (dug up from a friend's gravel drive as 'weeds'), we had the first pair of goldfinch visiting. It was fascinating to watch them sitting on the seed heads to feed.

Later that year we introduced a feeder filled with niger seed, a relative of the thistle. We placed it close to the teasel plants and have since seen up to seven goldfinches regularly visiting to feed on both the teasel and niger seed.

Feeding birds can be very rewarding and you can learn a lot about the behaviour of the birds visiting your garden. We feed black sunflower seeds, which are great for attracting greenfinches and are also enjoyed by blue tits, coal tits and great tits.

If you feed peanuts you may be lucky enough to see a woodpecker or even a nuthatch. But don't forget not to feed whole peanuts in the spring and summer nesting season as young birds could choke on them.

It's also important to clean bird tables and feeders regularly as they can spread disease.

It's not only native plants that are good for wildlife - many garden plants attract insects too. Some of the shrubby herbs including lavender and rosemary are very attractive to bees.

The buddleia bush is one of the best garden plants for attracting butterflies - we counted eight different kinds of butterfly on our buddleia last summer. We inherited it with the garden, where it was growing in the shade of a large ash tree.

Rather than remove it, we replanted it in a sunny spot where it is much happier - but we have to cut it back hard each year to stop it becoming too big for the garden!

Water in your garden will always attract wildlife. We simply use a large shallow plant saucer filled with water and sunk into shingle to provide a water source for birds, insects and small mammals.

Don't forget to clean these out regularly. If you want to attract frogs and other pond life, you can do so even in a very small space. An old Belfast sink or large plastic tub sunk into the ground would do. You should make sure there is a suitable entrance and exit by building up a ramp with stones on one side under the water.

So take a fresh look at your small town garden - you might be surprised at how easily you can bring wildlife to your backdoor.

If you want to attract more wildlife into your garden but don't want an unkempt wilderness, then English Nature's new CD Rom - Gardening with wildlife could help.

Published by Plant Press, the CD Rom is available, priced £9.99 (add £1.50 for postage and packing) direct from the Plant Press, 10 Market Street, Lewes, East Sussex, BN7 2NB, Tel 01273 476151.