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m tall, though. I'm still not sure how I'll stake an 8m tall plant.)I haven't done anything special with my sunflowers yet, I've only watered them. Now I'm upping my game: this weekend I'll be harvesting nettles to make a nitrogen-rich feed, which I

roosting in your home or garden, remember that bats and their roosts are protected whether occupied or not, so if you want to get rid of that conifer blocking all the light to your veg patch, but you think there are bats roosting in it, make sure you call

and disease resistance. Potassium is naturally found in wood ash and deep-rooted plants like comfrey. I grow comfrey in the garden and use it to make a liquid feed for my fruiting crops.It's also important not to let leafy crops, like lettuce, or root crops

, ivy will make it worse. My garden walls are ugly, but in tip top condition. They are therefore perfect for growing ivy on.And it's just as well, for, as I walked round my garden this morning, lamenting the mildew-infested clematis, limp passion flower

because their tadpoles are slightly poisonous and so the fish are less likely to eat them, preferring frog or newt larvae. Frogspawn tends to be eaten by newts, and frogs require shallow water to breed in, so it makes sense to provide them with separate

Last week, Butterfly Conservation published a report called The State of Britain's Larger Moths 2013. It makes a depressing read, demonstrating a marked decline in the number of our larger moths over the last 40 years. The survey, conducted

the birds, but also make a delicious ketchup.I won’t consider which fruit and vegetables I’ll grow just yet. Perhaps that’s a blog for another week.Which plants would you grow in your dream garden, and why?

, including gold- and light-centred alpines, green-edged fancies and a few selfs. We're not fussy about choosing particular named varieties, but we tend to steer clear of doubles. Auriculas, part of the primula family, make great hobby plants. There are so

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

year, they’re as regular as clockwork.The birds usually arrive in the first week of May, and carry out a recce of the garden to make sure it can still meet their needs (i.e. that it has a good supply of caterpillars and sunflower hearts). Then I see one