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early in winter before. I’m sure my friendly BBC weather forecaster will provide me with plenty more weather statistics when I next tune in.So, what does this mean for our plants and gardens? Firstly, take very great care walking out into your garden

they grew in around 10-15cm (4-6in) apart, with the same distance between each row.Encourage the plants to grow up the supports by gently twining them around the sticks. You may even need to gently tie them to the supports initially so they don't flop over

taste of what life was like before we built on the land. Green roofs on our sheds and bird tables don't provide such 'wild' habitats, but they do offer an additional source of pollen and nectar, as well as nesting opportunities.There are other advantages

and sleeker beast; it must have been a black variety of the much larger and squatter 'brown' Rattus norvegicus. It was sitting beside the stream, which bubbles down through the ornamental gardens, grooming itself in the drizzle when I trotted past

back bundles of branches that I then stick in the ground around the borders. Initially, the place appears to be colonised by enormous nesting birds, but this framework will soon be covered with plants which will, like matrons in whalebone girdles

the densely populated 12eme arrondissement?Something occurs to me. Are the houses of south-east London no longer attractive for nesting in the eaves? What with roof insulation and loft conversions, perhaps the birds are being edged out? Ironically, the five

especially to gather the droppings (not, as in Europe, to eat the birds). In dry countries other types of manure are used as fuel.Pig manure has to be about the smelliest option but provides plenty of humus. It is better in light, sandy soils.Leather scraps

called 'Morello Crown' on Gisela 5 dwarfing rootstock. It's smaller than the 'Colt' rootstock, so the tree should reach around six to eight feet after 10 years. The 'Crown' variety is a slightly larger strain than the usual morello cherry, it's the one

, to give it its full name, is a beautiful bird - sleek, handsome, well-groomed, elegant, silky (Bombyx, after which it takes its scientific name, is the silk moth). It is also a rare visitor to Britain.A native of higher latitudes, it only visits us when

of interesting things about oaks:1. Oaks are host to an awful lot of insects, lichens and birds - not to mention the various fungi that hang around the root systems.2. Because of the number of feeding insects, oak leaves look a bit shabby by July but