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If I only had one container or window box, I would fill it with herbs. Fresh herbs are a joy to cook with, they smell good, their flowers are loved by bees, and most perennial species can tolerate a bit of neglect.Having said that, my perennial herb

in his outdoor fuse box, while one used to sleep in the folds of curtains hanging in the classroom my mum used to teach in. Erecting a bat box and growing trees may encourage them to roost in your garden. Females will choose warm 'maternity' roosts

A recent Which? Gardening report revealed that many shop-bought wildlife homes are not worth buying. The trial included hedgehog homes, bug boxes and bumblebee nesters, and concluded that only solitary bee hotels proved successful, especially home

feeding, nesting and hibernation preferences. Tongue lengths determine which flowers the bees can feed on, so grow flowers with long corollas like red clover, honeysuckle and foxgloves to attract long-tongued bumblebees like the commmon carder (Bombus

. 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

of year. I’d start sowing now but I don’t want weak, leggy, light-starved plants.I’ve never had a blank canvas for a garden before. It’s not a big garden, but there’s room enough for a few mistakes. I’ll be growing most plants from seed, and scrounging

, garden gnomes, stone ornaments, expensive bonsais and even whole ponds, hedges and fences are just some of the items regularly reported as stolen. A friend of mine had one of two box cones stolen from outside her front door. Apart from ruining

hibernaculums for creatures: last year's Christmas tree branches are bundled behind pots for insects and there's a cardboard box full of grass clippings. When the trees in the local park lose their leaves I'll be gathering bags of them to cram into corners