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.Ivy is blamed for crumbling walls, broken fences and unpaid insurance claims. My dad grows it up a column that supports the roof of his porch, but he won't let it touch his house. Friends removed it from their garden because it had 'punched holes through

There's only one thing better than receiving emails, letters and phone calls from readers and that's meeting them in person. And with Gardeners' World Live starting tomorrow (Wednesday 15 June, 2011) and running until Sunday I'm looking forward

queen wasp making a nest in the shed. Much as I like wasps, and no matter how long I bang on about them being 'the gardener's friends' - helpful, interesting and attractive - I can't have a nest of 10 thousand of them guarding the rakes and spades

-footed bee hovered briefly outside the kitchen.I've just been wandering about the garden in my shirtsleeves, feeling the real warmth of the sun catch me, and it seems that all the wildlife has just been queuing up ready for this sunshine. The trouble is, I

the densely populated 12eme arrondissement?Something occurs to me. Are the houses of south-east London no longer attractive for nesting in the eaves? What with roof insulation and loft conversions, perhaps the birds are being edged out? Ironically, the five

(gardeners insert your own reasons here), and, I'm afraid, to bemoan the fact that not enough funding or political clout is given to insect study and education.I'm one of a number of 'international entomologists' who has been invited to blog about their daily

A few weeks ago I wrote about moving a bumblebee nest from a friend's garden. At the end of the blog I mentioned that I'd found a wax moth in the nest.Wax moth is a native, natural predator of the bumblebee, but it's one of its biggest enemies

of the patio plants. A mouse nibbles seed heads in one of the borders. There is a Mediterranean bouquet garnis smell in the hot air. Lots of garden thyme in tonight's risotto.Thursday 12th A nuthatch visits the breakfast patio, but I cannot make out what