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If you have been struck by the sad plight of the battery hen recently and wish to do something about it then remember one important fact: chickens are rubbish gardeners. Forget the fanciful notion you had of having fluffy feathered folk strutting

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 the waste below.It's remarkable how much life a compost bin can attract. Books will tell you that a compost heap is one of the best garden features to attract wildlife but, somehow, this 'life' inside the bin can go unnoticed.We gardeners normally only

as effective. You don't have to build a huge habitat – a small pile or rocks or logs in a sunny part of the garden will suffice. If you can, try to create the habitat alongside an area of long grass, so there are plenty of insects to eat, and further places

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

of those from the local Chinese takeaway; I also use them for 'show and tell' sessions. They've found a 'lizardy' thing whilst digging up the end of the garden, and wonder what it is.Inside the chow mein box, curled up in some soil is a tiny newtlet

I've been building, not so much a garden pond, as a playground pond. And the first problem with playgrounds is that they are all-over tarmac. The obvious site for Ivydale Primary School's new pond was a sunny, but extremely bleak corner next

For anyone who thought the cold winter might have been a bit harsh for wildlife, I hope the recent heatwave has been an eye-opener. I’ve certainly never seen so much insect life in April before. The garden has been awash with orange-tips, holly

, they will not thrive in sodden soils - decent drainage is essential. As with any other plant, get them off to a good start by incorporating plenty of organic material, such as home-made compost. Oriental poppies will appreciate a small amount of fertiliser, but don

Nearly back to normal now, after Christmas and New Year. Sunday saw us with 3-year-old scooting in Dulwich Park. Thankfully there was no wind, because it was blisteringly cold, and the ground was still covered in frost. So when I saw a small bird