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will be completely starkers, while another is just turning, so the chore of collection seems endless. Any leaves that fall on borders are left there, but we rake leaves from the paths and lawn (they smother the grass), adding them to the compost heap

to have done by now. A box of tulips is sitting under my desk (along with two pairs of shoes, the overspill from the waste paper basket and a pen top whose presence I have been missing for a while). They should have been planted at least a month ago (the

it with 10 parts water, to use as a fertiliser.AdamAdd fruit and vegetable peelings, cooked veg (except potatoes), shredded paper, cardboard and newspaper, crushed egg shells, tea leaves and coffee, but avoid meat and dairy products, lawn clippings, citrus

of bumblebee rely on chalk grassland, hay meadows and other disappearing habitats that our gardens cannot provide for them.The problem for bees is that their favourite food plants are often considered to be 'weeds'. They don't go for highly bred double

the end of the 2012 growing season. The reason I’m flustered is that there’s so much still to do, and the most urgent job is to bring any tender plants that are still outside under cover before they’re damaged.I have a lovely selection of tender succulents

I might move house this year. It’s very early days, but the possibility of having a bigger garden is sending my plant-collecting gene into overdrive. I currently grow plants in my small, shady courtyard garden. But after four years of this, I long

to silently observe them.Barn owls aren't the only birds making use of the garden. The nests of tiny, ground-nesting owls, Lechucita vizcachera, are dotted all over the lawn, flamingos and wild ducks also visit. We also saw plenty of hummingbirds, and small

of the plant). They are not really the right choice for a small garden or a tidy gardener. Pachymorphs form a clump (although the clump will, obviously increase in time) which makes them perfect as big specimen plants in lawns or as part of a mixed border

for less common visitors, such as waxwings, blackcaps, redwings and bullfinches.How to helpLeave fallen fruit on lawns, bird tables or at the back of borders for birds to find and feast on.Allow teasels and sunflowers to seed, providing you with winter

luciliae creates a blue haze under trees or naturalised in grass. If you do plant it in a lawn, don't mow too early. Give it a chance to set seed and you'll have even more to enjoy the following year. Height 15cm.Chionodoxa luciliaeLiving up to its common