Search - Articles

Nettles have a bad reputation among gardeners. Although they sting and are invasive if left unchecked, there are numerous ways they can be put to positive use in both your garden and kitchen. Learn more, below.Nettles are a magnet for beneficial

Nectar BarAt Berryfields, we have made what we called the Nectar Bar alongside our big pond. Butterflies are among the more beautiful visitors we hope to attract, but all nectar-drinking creatures are welcome here.Any garden created for wildlife

for wildlifeLearn how to identify bumblebees in your gardenGrowing wildlife-friendly plantsPlants for bees

summer.Learn about five of the most garden-worthy varieties, below.A distinctive variety with fringed petals, 'Forncett Summer' is a striking shade of coral. Height 90cm.Papaver 'Forncett Summer'One of the prettiest of all oriental poppies. The simplicity

For the last few years I've noticed large numbers of harlequin ladybirds (pictured, left) visiting my garden in summer, and then hibernating inside my window frames over winter.The window frames also provide winter shelter for lacewings and many

. The speckled wood is a slim elegant creature, with large broad brown wings, and yet the squat green pupa under the frisbee looked wholly other.The speckled wood is unique amongst British butterflies in that it regularly overwinters in both caterpillar

again, I’ve been dreaming about a big, leafy, watery garden. But why three ponds? Well, they would be of different sizes and depths, and therefore attract a wide range of wildlife. I would dig a large, deep pond, a medium-sized pond and a small, shallow

. It is not one of those gardener-friendly hoverflies lauded for its voracious aphid-hunting larvae. Instead, its large glutinous maggots chew away at the insides of daffodil bulbs; at best leaving a large open wound in the damaged and weakened bulb, at worst

of the annual migration back to their birth ponds. I’m fairly lucky in that, although my back garden is not ever so large, it is part of a large block of gardens where hedges and fences are tatty enough to allow these beasts fairly easy passage.We have a pond

Since having to wear reading glasses (my squinting started about 4 years ago), I do that 'double take' thing of having to square my face to something then back off a few inches to get it into focus. I did this a few days ago in the garden