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While most people will be thinking about the festivities, I have other things on my mind. I'm finding myself worrying even more than usual about feeding the birds.I was brought up to love wild birds and to try to look after them. This includes

with fresh cranberries and Christmas nuts (unsalted, of course).It all looks rather festive out there. As well as feeding the birds, I leave out bowls of water for them to bathe in and drink. Bird baths are essential for birds at this time of year

The soil here is rock solid. Fortunately, I planted the last of the garlic last week, before temperatures plummeted. Now, I'd need to use an ice axe, rather than a fork if I wanted to plant anything.I answered the door recently to a courier, who was rather amused to find me weari...

is generally the case with autumn lawn care) looked considerably worse than it did before we started.But at least the disaster zone is now level and the words ' has potential' is uppermost in my mind. I just hope the local bird population is not now feeding

, and the children are always impressed by how both male and female parents feed their young. Sparrows may be small, brown and not particularly exciting to look at, but I love them. They melt my heart, they really do. I know some gardeners are driven crazy

act swiftly, I can resolve the problem by next year, or the year after at worst.Those bulbs have simply used up more of their 'resources' than they can afford, and need a bit of help. So, I'm resolving to:i) Feed them at the roots.ii) Spray the foliage

the ground at speed. It is now upright, though it has acquired a worrying wobble. Interestingly, the birds were still feeding from it when it was still flat on the ground. I wonder if they were the usual locals, or were they looters?We also had some

of damage. They tend to feed on exposed areas of the foliage, so it's not too difficult to spot and remove them before they've decimated the plants.Of course, you may not want to remove them from your prized plants. Some gardeners choose to leave them be

one carefully constructed from one cut-out circle of foliage. Inside will have been eggs laid by the leafcutter bee, along with a store of nectar and pollen for the emerging grubs to feed on (we didn't dare look in case we disturbed them).We carefully

bouts of windy weather, they haven't required any support (larger varieties do sometimes need some help, though) and they've needed very little feeding. I just couldn't imagine being without ornamental alliums. And their close relatives garlic, onion