Search - Articles

in the waste below.It's remarkable how much life a compost bin can attract. Books will tell you that a compost heap is one of the best garden features to attract wildlife but, somehow, this 'life' inside the bin can go unnoticed.We gardeners normally only

There's a mouse living in my compost bin. I first saw it one evening the other week, when I added a fresh layer of tomato side shoots and yellowing leaves. It leapt out of the bin and charged through the border. That frog looks just like a mouse, I

raised when tunnels appeared in the borders and holes in the compost bin became a little too wide and numerous to be the work of a wood mouse. Then, my fears were confirmed when I emptied my compost bin and the rat shot out. I’m not against rats and think

a short flight to the raspberries, comfrey and clover he grows.If you want wildlife nesting in your garden, then build log and leaf piles, start a compost heap, leave a messy area, plant nectar-rich flowers and dig a pond. You could also use an old

startled in Dorset was probably a slow worm or grass snake (pictured above). These benign species often turn up in gardens, mostly in the south of England, and very rarely in the north. They bask in rockeries, feed in ponds and breed in compost heaps

piles, under sheds and in compost heaps. They breed from early to late-summer, giving birth to up to seven hoglets at a time, and feed on earthworms, beetles, caterpillars, and - happily for gardeners - slugs.I've never seen a hedgehog where I live

or beneath sheds, while the common carder generally chooses thickets of long grass or compost heaps to nest in. But bumblebees will nest anywhere they deem 'suitable', including bird boxes, lawnmowers, concrete paths and old duvets.I’ve yet to encourage

, caterpillars and chrysalises don't end up on the compost heap. Now autumn is on its way, many of us will be thinking of tidying our gardens, composting spent perennials and making leaf mulch.Remember that caterpillars overwinter in leaf piles and plant debris

exclusively for wildlife. Building the garden from scratch, I was able to choose the best nectar- and pollen-rich plants for insects, put in a pond for my frogs (it's in a tin bath but it still has different depths and a variety of native plants), a compost

This week at gardenersworld.com we've received lots of letters, emails and blog comments from people who have found dead frogs in their pond. I've not seen my rescue frogs since October – I'm hoping they’re tucked up safely in the compost bin