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, bumblebees prefer to nest in messy gardens (although they will feed anywhere with suitable flowers), so I want to give nest-searching queens the illusion that I don't garden at all. The grass will grow long, the borders will rot into themselves

Every autumn I have the same dilemma: should I overwinter my chilli plants or not? I probably shouldn't bother, as they quite often die, but I always end up taking them indoors. It seems so wasteful throwing them in the compost bin.Although they're usually grown in the UK as annu...

, according to Chief Horticultural Advisor Guy Barter. The growing season is getting longer, and plants are simply taking advantage.I don't know if my spring-flowering cherry is blooming late, or early. But not only is it in flower, it's also produced a second

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

lying dormant at the bottom of ponds, where they slow down their metabolism and breathe through their skin. They can survive if the pond freezes over, but only if it has oxygenating plants growing in it (plants can still photosynthesise and produce

and is somehow part of the emotional attachment I have with my garden.So, apart from investing in heavy duty locks and lobbying allotment committees to improve security measures, what can we do? Growing prickly hedges such as barberry along our boundaries

once watched a great tit dive into a clump of forget-me-not to retrieve a fat caterpillar. I also grow native shrubs such as holly, guelder rose and dog rose. A native hedge can also help moths – a mix of species including hawthorn, hazel, dog rose

of long grass around the edges of the lawn (which has no straight lines or clipped edges). I’m also far too soft with my frogs. When I cut down my tomato haulms the other week, I found five frogs snuggled together in the grow bag. I couldn’t bear to turf