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and a wonderful stripy frog.Unlike most of her gardening friends, Fabiana grows native plants for moths and birds. A former farm, the land was sown mainly with Italian rye grass for grazing animals. Fabiana removed most of this grass and replaced

-May or early June and keep on a window sill, in a cold frame or cover with a cloche. Germination should take place within a few days. Keep the compost moist and remove the weaker seedling after two weeks.If growing in the ground, dig a hole 30cm² and 20cm deep

the offending plants and what to do if you have them growing in your pond (remove and compost them, basically).Great. But what should we plant in our ponds to replace the offenders? My blog on dead frogs highlighted the need for oxygenating plants to maintain

for now to avoid the food going rotten if the birds don't come. I've also got some fat balls on the go, which I dutifully removed from their nets to avoid any broken bird legs. Now, where are the birds?

to dismantling and removing it, only to find around 15 frogs buried in the compost, asleep. I quickly covered them back up and left them alone again.Frogs residing in grow bags is nothing knew. I spoke to frog expert Jules Howard, who said grow bags make

of putting the nest into the box, sealing it and taking it to its new destination. Let the bees settle and wait until morning before removing the tape from the entrance hole.I had only moved one bumblebee nest before, and that was a disaster. The bees were

population but the snails can be quite a nuisance, as can the blackbird. I take the rough with the smooth and on the whole my relaxed approach works well.I'm glad I chose not to remove the blackfly from the allotment beans two weeks ago. Sometimes it takes a

pots - everything was gone. But the queen and her bees were holding on in there, angrily defending their home. I wondered if I could encourage them to carry on. I removed the caterpillars and replaced most of the bedding, then returned the bees

are declining so alarmingly, but the usual factors are likely to blame: in rural areas, there are fewer hedgerows to provide shelter, while use of pesticides removes a vital source of their food. In towns and cities, small, over-tidy and paved gardens reduce

loudly. I put the theory to test by removing the bin lid, emptying a bucket of cold water on to the heap every day and hitting the bin with a rake whenever I went past. The rat was indeed evicted, but it always returned within a few days. There’s a limit