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Make a bird houseA nesting box is a great way of attracting birds into your garden in the spring and summer. It not only gives you the pleasure of watching them but also gives the birds a home close to plenty of garden insects to feast upon. Well

When it's cold outside, and none of the family offer to join me in the garden for a spot of tidying up, it's nice having the company of some feathered friends instead. During winter the birds are bolder and friendlier than ever, with robins

Plant shallots outside into well-prepared soilSow mustard and cress in a pot on the kitchen windowsill for a quick cropUse netting and bird scarers to protect fruit bushes from hungry birds, which can strip off swelling budsPrune side shoots

Make fat cakes for the birdsEnjoy watching birds feeding in your garden all through the winter by making your own fat cakes for them. Feeding garden birds is important for their survival over the coming months so make up a pot of our mixture

and particularly lovely feathered critters we try to provide a habitat for. I've heard the argument that it's not that sparrowhawk numbers are on the increase, but that they're simply following their food, so as the smaller birds become more numerous in gardens

Clean out bird boxesLevel out dips in lawns with loam-based compost and sow fresh grass seedClear away debris that could be sheltering slugs and snailsCheck bonfires before lighting, in case they are sheltering sleeping hedgehogsSend off for seed

Trim autumn-flowering heathersCollect fallen rose leaves that could carry diseases over to next seasonPlant new rosesTransplant shrubs or small treesFinish planting tulip bulbsHang bird feeders over rose beds to attract birds to pick off overwintering pests

Big news from the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch survey results just out: the long-tailed tit has made it, for the first time in the survey's 30-year history, into the top 10. I hardly ever saw these gregarious little birds until I moved to East Dulwich

Spread a compost mulch around border plants to suppress weedsPut pond pumps and fountains back into pools, thoroughly cleaning filters firstLay turf or sow new lawns from seedClean out bird baths and top up with fresh waterCheck tree ties

Clean and sharpen knives and secateurs, and spray metal tools with oilPut up nesting boxes for birds in suitable trees or on buildingsMove shrubs growing in the wrong placeService petrol lawn mowersSearch through seed, bulb and nursery catalogues