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While the growling frogs in my mum's shallow pond have gone quiet (“and who can blame them, the pond completely froze over last week”, observed my mother), a pair of robins has been busy in the garden of my mother-in-law. Despite the bad weather

many varieties and types to choose from, and, with patience, you can even develop your own from seed.Every visit to a garden centre or spring flower show usually results in the purchase of an auricula (or six). We were once lucky enough to be given a

Although, yes, technically it is a spider, I’m almost positive that nobody could really be scared of the zebra spider, Salticus scenicus. It lacks all those sinister characteristics that can cause unease among some people — it isn’t black and hairy, it doesn’t have long legs, it ...

looking like dog-eared lace doilies. Hostas seem to be the snack of choice for all molluscs.This problem is pretty much universal - except, it seems, at Hever Castle in Kent, the childhood home of Anne Boleyn. Hever Castle has a magnificent rose garden

, sprinkled liberally with freshly ground pepper. Believe me, they are delicious.Although I'm loathed for making space for nettles in my garden, the sight of large patches of them brings joy to my heart. These spiteful weeds are the perfect host for four

she hadn't dashed off into the depths. Today, though, when I nip out into the cold wilderness of my garden to have a little look around, I find there is a thin layer of ice on the pond.The rational part of me suspects that even though our pond is very

Small lawns needn't be plain and uninspiring. An emerald green, healthy lawn will give any garden a lift, big or small, and there's a lot you can do to keep it looking good - from choosing the right grass seed, to aerating. You can even make a

if it ventures out again.There's something really special about seeing a lizard in the garden. It's almost as if they shouldn't be able to survive in cold, rainy Britain, and that they only belong in a more exotic world, somewhere hot and dry. But despite

, but the discovery in 2011 that small tortoiseshell numbers had gone down by 68% in 10 years was pretty shocking. It has always been received wisdom that common generalist ‘garden’ species, like the small tort, were protected from some of the frightening declines

While many plants have been late to flourish this year, I’m pleased to report that the blue and great tits that forage in my garden every spring are bang on schedule.Regular readers of this blog will know that every year my tiny courtyard garden