Search - Articles

it's five-star accommodation.Last July, I responded to a Freecycle email from someone who'd filled in her established pond and razed her entire garden to the ground, prior to a redesign. It was no longer a safe habitat for frogs, and those she'd found

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

to be trusted with much, so we can relax, knowing that everything will fall into place and all we have to do is be useful when required and grateful on the day. This leaves me with the spare time to go and pootle around in the shed and look at tools. We have

eating pies. But your garden can harm you at any time of year - just the other day my friend came round to dinner sporting a black eye, which she'd received from a thorny bramble while picking blackberries. Another friend once caused herself so much

or beneath sheds, while the common carder generally chooses thickets of long grass or compost heaps to nest in. But bumblebees will nest anywhere they deem 'suitable', including bird boxes, lawnmowers, concrete paths and old duvets.I’ve yet to encourage

staging or a dry shed.AdamIf your dahlias are in a warm, sheltered spot in the border and you don't want to lift them, add a thick layer of mulch for extra insulation in winter.Caring for your dahliasVideo guide to taking dahlia cuttings, with Sarah Raven

, cut back the stems of cannas and ginger lilies and lift the rhizomes from the soil. Set them in large pots or crates and pack round the roots with chipped bark. Store in a frost-free shed over winter.AdamIn the north and east of the UK you may need

. Keep bare-root plants in a frost-free shed until daytime temperatures are above freezing.More advice on growing rosesWatch Chris Beardshaw's video on planting a rambling roseMonty Don's video guide to planting a roseAdvice on pruning a rose bush

in March. Not this time though! I'm determined to forge ahead this winter and have planned a couple of projects to get my teeth into, including building another compost heap and painting the shed. Not only have I convinced myself that these projects

to integrate some 'planned' piles of logs and prunings at the back of borders for these creatures, but they often have their own preferences for sheds and sheltered corners.The untidy gardener in me can use all those piles of autumn leaves and debris around