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flowers (the bees just can't get to the goods).Here's a list of some of my favourite plants for bees:1. Allium2. Aquilegia3. Birds-foot trefoil4. Borage5. Campanula6. Cardoon7. Catmint8. Chives9. Clover10. Comfrey11. Cornflower12. Cranesbill geranium13

plant of local provenance has grown in its locality for a long time. By definition, it's a wild, native plant and has evolved over hundreds, even thousands of years in tune with its local environment. Self-seeded by wind, or spread by birds or mammals

With all this talk of feeding the birds lately, it would be wrong not to mention the potential unhappy consequence of such a good deed: rats.Rats are everywhere, and some say there is one rat for every human in the UK. They used to spread the plague

landscape.Native plants are much better for our wildlife than introduced ones. A native tree (such as oak or hawthorn) might provide food and shelter for 150 insects, birds and other animals, but an introduced one (such as Japanese maple) is often devoid

This summer I’ve been a little preoccupied by cuckoos. They’re not strictly a garden species, but it’s possible to listen to a cuckoo’s distinctive call from the garden if you live in a rural area. And, while we won't get them visiting our bird

clumps of this and that from my mum, who is very understanding of having her established perennials lifted out of the ground and brutally divided with a spade. My bird boxes and feeders have been up for a while, but there’s been no sign of any birds

in May. Would they have checked for nesting birds?As gardeners we're conditioned to work with wildlife. We avoid tidying borders in winter, trimming hedges in nesting season, and are frequently reminded of the benefits of having a pond. But this message

with the garden wildlife, or at least I liked to think so. I remember my dad waiting for the blue tits to leave the nest box so he could quickly lift me up and show me the baby birds inside. Once, aged two, I found a worm that had been pecked at by a bird, so I

If you're bearing a grudge against your neighbours, one way to exact revenge is plant a leylandii hedge in your garden. Left unclipped, it could grow to up to 35m high and 5m wide. It will be a haven for garden birds, insects and even the odd mammal

Last year I wrote a blog about cuckoo spit, in which I documented the fauna that had appeared in my garden after I had transformed it from a paved courtyard. I celebrated the arrival of butterflies, birds, froghopper nymphs and moths, but was less