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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

weevils. It's not flowered for four years.To thrive, citrus trees should really be grown in the Mediterranean. Failing that they need a rich, open compost and plenty of ventilation. If grown indoors, they benefit from a regular misting of water to increase

in their final positions last weekend. They're roughly 50cm tall and healthy looking, but they're not as tall as Adam Pasco's greenhouse-grown ones. Obviously they'll catch up and take over his soon.All but one of the sunflowers are planted in well-rotted compost

to keep the soil in place. Finally we added loam-based compost (made lighter by adding perlite and polystyrene chips), and planted it up with shade-tolerant wildflowers.The day proved that building a green roof is a little more complicated than making a

, 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

Oh snow, where were you in London on Christmas day? Why are you here now, hampering our efforts to burn off mince pies through brisk gardening? There's nothing I can do in my garden, except ponder when the compost heap will start breaking down again

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

is an obvious choice: native British trees don't just absorb CO2, but provide food and shelter for wildlife. Composting helps reduce the amount of waste being sent to landfill and journeys to take it there, and growing your own fruit and veg reduces food waste

and dry in the compost bin.So instead of removing plant debris, digging over borders and mulching this weekend, I'll be out foraging leaves from the park to top up my leaf piles, planting snake's head fritillary bulbs, moving foxglove seedlings and taking