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wildlife, they can be made into great plant food and are a surprisingly versatile ingredient in the kitchen.The nettle we're used to in the UK is Urtica dioica, a perennial plant full of iron, calcium, magnesium and nitrogen, which makes it incredibly

they are transformed by the arrival of tonnes of imported topsoil and a bewildering rainbow of garden plants, for Gardeners' World Live.Whilst I was there I was asked to research and create a container of plants to attract wildlife, and despite the rain, it looked

in your gardenMaking a bee hotel for solitary bee speciesBrowse a variety of plants that are attractive to wildlifeView a selection of plants with spring flowering bulbs

. With minimum care, they'll flower year after year, and many will bulk up into clumps after a few years.Like cultivars, species tulips prefer growing in free-draining soil in full sun. Plant them in drifts for swathes of colour, dot them around a rockery

Flowers to attract bees and other insectsWildlife-friendly plantsMaking a stag beetle bucketCreating a bee hotelBrowse a variety of plants that are attractive to wildlifeView a selection of plants with spring flowering bulbs

periodically.Find out more about stag beetle conservation.Attracting insects and wildlife to your gardenFlowers to attract bees and other insects.Wildlife-friendly plantsBuilding a bug box for insectsMaking a bee hotelBrowse a variety of plants

of late bulb and corm planting - crocus, daffodils and tulips. I'm incapable of resisting a 'reduced-for-clearance' bargain bulb.Months after the theoretical planting date I was out, small daughter at my elbow, cramming crocus and other favourites

I always get a real thrill when I find the telltale marks of the leafcutter bee on the leaves of my roses and wisteria. Sometimes I catch them in action, cutting out a circle of leaf, or flying around carrying it. It doesn't bother me to find plants

supremely elegant beetle, neatly parallel-sided, shiny, cylindrical and compact. So what a delight that almost every asparagus plant now benefits from its decoration, at least, in south-east London they do.I'm mildly surprised that I don’t hear more about

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