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the right sized holes in which the birds nest, but they're probably using them as vantage points. I first saw them in Beckenham, about 10 years ago, when a large gang of upwards of 20 were making a rowdy display near a children's playground. They

with daffodils in an almost unquenchable variety of shapes and colours, almost all of them shades of yellow. Given the joys of this or this or this or (almost) any one of the 20,000 available varieties, why choose a forsythia for your spring hit of yellow?It also

of the garden beds.We have a regular gang of these fantastic birds wheeling about in the sky far above us, but they never come down low into the garden, nor do they ever perch on the fences or even the clothes line. I can't really envisage even the most agile

I though the four-year-old and his friend were being noisy on the trampoline, but they were not the source of the shrill screaming last Friday. It was about 2.30 in the afternoon and the wild shouts suddenly stopped as a sparrowhawk screeched over

Cleavers grows rapidly during warm weather. The sticky stems are able to scramble around the garden, smothering small, cultivated plants and setting masses of seed. It's usually introduced on the coats of animals, birds' feathers or human clothing

. Foxglove14. Heather15. Honeysuckle16. Lavender17. Poppy18. Pussy willow19. Raspberry20. Red Campion21. Rosemary22. Scabious23. Sea Holly24. Sunflower25. Teasel26. Thistles27. Viper's bugloss28. WisteriaI'm growing 21 of the above plants in my garden

Their image has adorned many a Christmas card decorating homes up and down the land, but venture out into your garden over the coming days and you'll hopefully come face-to-face with your own resident robin.At least one robin has made my garden its

it against birds with netting.Alternatively, cut out the bare patch of lawn, rake the soil and add topsoil if needed then patch the gap with new pieces of turf.AdamA small sheet of polythene pegged over the area will encourage the grass seed to germinate

-eating birds. While gardeners are less fond of this plant, it is useful to soothe the sting of a nettle when rubbled on the skin. A tatty-looking, coarse-leaved plant that has deep, branching taproots, which will keep regrowing after being hoed out or lightly

Work off Christmas excesses by digging over bare areas of groundPlace cloches over tender plants to give them extra protection from frostSharpen blades on hoes, secateurs and other garden tools, and wipe with an oily rag before storing awayDo a