Narrow Boarders? No not skinny paying guests, of course I mean narrow borders.

nasturiums are a good plant for butterflies. Cabbage whites lay their eggs and then the caterpillars feed on the leaves. a non too tidy garden also encourages wildlife in. Shrubs that have open flowers and berries will be good too. What shrubs are already in the garden, they might be worth resurecting.

Thanks Seaburngirl. Two really vicious roses still with last years flowers dried on them, about 5 feet tall. Two peiris about 3 feet, seriously neglected and, what I think is cotton lavender which has also tall and leggy.. Thats all, there may be other stuff lurking underground, but I doubt it. They only moved in last week after saving for 5 years, now they have flood water at the end of the road. They are in Staines on Thames, so I am keeping my fingers crossed for them.

Water attracts all sorts of wildlife bugs so a small water feature so its safe for the toddler

How about a couple of pieces of broken paving slab or roof tiles, and a couple of chunks of wood, so the little one can experiment peeking under things to spot slugs and woodlice?
I'd take out the roses, until the toddler is less at risk from losing an eye, but I kept all the poisonous plants while my kids were growing up, because they were never unattended while small, and as they grew they learned about not eating what you don't know.

3d is right ponds like shady conditions and they dont have to be deep, but do provide plant cover for any pondlife. dry a damp shady area in the garden.

dryopteris ferns like dry shady areas and if you have a sunny spot a buddlia to encourage butterflies and plant some nettles for catterpillars.

a pyracantha for berries, but it is thorny, a cotoneaster, a honeysuckle and some clematis have some wonderful seedheads

The nasturtiums idea is brilliant for summer - nice big seeds for little hands to plant, and big showy flowers that they can pick and bring inside "for Mum" as well as the caterpillars and butterflies - and often there are earwigs in the flowers too, and blackfly sometimes. Not sure about the nettles in a small space with toddlers though! A few daffodils and snowdrops for next year might encourage the toddlers to like gardens as well as bugs.

London Pride would be great ground cover in that situation - evergreen and has lots of dainty flowers that again little hands could pick and bring inside. (Sorry no bugs there, unless you get slugs hiding underneath the leaves...if you really want them!

Contact The National Wildflower Centre, Alderhay,
Liverpool for advice. I loved wildflowers as a child,
still do.

There's a nice kids' section on the natural history museum website that has things like making bird feeders and bee hotels - NHM almost certainly has events on that even toddlers can get involved in.

The biggest problem is the lack of sunlight - most flowering plants require some sun to flower properly. Is it possible that sun does get into the area during the summer, when the sun is high?
If you want water in the garden, make it an ornamental water feature with no plants - in shade, the plants won't do well, and anyway, an ornamental water feature that isn't deep is much safer for a small child. It should at least attract birds though.

I do hope they escape the flooding, being in Staines - my son's just moved into his first mortgaged property, a basement flat in west London. Of all the years to buy a basement flat, dear oh dear... I'm keeping my fingers crossed, and I bet you are too.

Thank for all the advice. My son, ever the optimist said I wonder if my property will increase in value now I have a sea view. Last I heard the water was still about 10 feet away so fingers crossed.

Well at least he can crack jokes about it, after all, in this creeping tragedy, smiling is about all we can do, frankly. I know that Staines only changed its name to Staines on Thames in the last couple of years - hopefully it won't be Staines IN Thames instead.