Making a wild garden

[babybouncer]

I have a pretty small garden (see photo) divided into a little lawn with raised beds, a patio with table and a triangular area at the back covered in playbark where we used to have a climbing set. I want to make it a wild garden, but have no idea where to start. I’d like to add a pond and some climbing something and we already have a couple of wooden benches, so I’ll need a path or stepping stones to reach them.
What should I do first? And how? What to plant? Do I use seeds? I have no clue about gardening… help!

A pond is a good place to start for wildlife... simply dig a hole, line it with a thick pond membrane, and line it with rocks or gravel. You could put a bit of aquarium soil in the bottom with some aeration plants and you're set.

As for wildlife, it depends on what you want to attract.

For bees, any type of flower. For butterflies you need the caterpillar food plants. Slow worms, you want corrugated metal etc on the ground. Hedgehogs and beetles you want log piles. Foxes you want holes in the fence and leftovers (meat). Birds are feeders, bird baths, fat balls, and boxes filled with cotton wool, cat hair, fluff, etc.

Look up Kate Bradbury - she turned her fairly small back garden into a wildlife garden, mainly consisting of a pond.

amp.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gardening-blog/2016/jul/01/build-it-and-they-will-come-how-i-created-a-wildlife-garden-from-scratch

Series of videos here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWK0t9cgaOTZsox-Hcd63cX27K6QmT4uW&si=ySVtuVTGs3P0207q

Recent thread about ponds @babybouncer with lots of ideas and info.

Pond ideas | Mumsnet

tbh ponds can be a pain. you can start by sowing wild flowers (although a bit late for this year). just be mindful to not choose something invasive. you can intersperse some hardy herbs etc. for scent and interest.

I recently bought an obelisk from harrod horticultural for climbing plants... you can use something like that to add height and interest.

I would also think about mix of evergreen, perennials and annuals - how much light/shade you have etc.

this website sells wildflowers https://www.cumbriawildflowers.co.uk/account/basket

don't buy wild flower seedballs, they are just a gimmick

A few rotting logs work well for attracting insects and toads (which live under them).
It can also help to have a 'scruffy area'. We had a gap of about 2 ft between the side of our shed and fence and I used to chuck all clippings down there - it attracted so much wildlife.
I also created a pond using a small rigid pond liner. It was only around 50cm long and maybe 30cm wide and we had toads, frogs, news and dragonflies.

Ponds are a pain in the arse, but they have so much wildlife. We had to drain and re line ours last August, but noticed yesterday when we pulled a net from the bottom it was absolutely full of allsorts of creepy crawlies.

Amazing how they find it and take over in such a short space of time.

May be an idea to look at some Open Gardens in your area OP, it's the right time of year. You'll see all sorts of gardens , you can see what you like and what others have done to attract wildlife. You can look at NGS gardens but Open Gardens is more looking at everyday gardens. Will also be able to buy tea and cake on your way round and maybe some cheap plants.