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Most gardeners are now aware of the diminishing number of bees. Bumble, honey and solitary bees are all in decline. On the whole, blame can be apportioned to loss of habitat: hedgerows are now scarce, while use of herbicides has depleted food

You might see your garden as an isolated entity, but the local hedgehogs, frogs, birds and bees view it differently. As long as there are holes under fences for animals to get from one garden to the next, yours is just one piece in the varied jigsaw

It's easy to consider bees and birds when gardening – we see plenty of them if we grow the right plants – but what about bats? Emerging from their roosts at dusk and returning by dawn, they can often go unnoticed.My partner is a huge fan of bats

As a rule, I only grow plants that will benefit bees, moths and other pollinators. I do relax this rule, though, by growing auriculas. I do this for my partner, who loves them (even if bees don’t).We have built up quite a collection over the years

barely seen any rain at all.In drier parts of the UK, plants are bursting into flower earlier, bees and butterflies are out earlier, and the ground, which should be warm and wet from April showers, is parched. All this and some areas are still getting

and moss.I have grand plans for my lawn. It's only tiny, but it will be full of pretty 'weeds', wildflowers and crocus. Butterflies will lay eggs in it, bees will drink nectar from it and I will sunbathe on it.At the moment I can't really describe what I

in the garden, providing food and shelter for huge numbers of invertebrates including wood-boring beetles, solitary bees and woodlice. It can come in many forms: a tree stump left to rot into itself can provide a rot hole for the larvae of Eristalis hoverflies

If I only had one container or window box, I would fill it with herbs. Fresh herbs are a joy to cook with, they smell good, their flowers are loved by bees, and most perennial species can tolerate a bit of neglect.Having said that, my perennial herb

of bumblebee now have few nesting options in the wild. It's great news for gardeners, as it means we can build on what we already have to make our gardens even better for bees.If you cater for bumblebees in your garden then honeybees and solitary bees

I have bumblebees nesting in my garden. They didn't choose to live there, I introduced them. Or rather, I rescued them.With a reputation for being a bit of a bee fanatic, I get the odd call from friends of friends who have bumblebees nesting