Search - Articles

grow for the sole purpose of attracting the speckled wood, which breeds in long grass.When the news broke that sales of artificial grass are soaring, it struck me that a fake lawn might have been a better option for my small patch (roughly 4m²). I

, while, according to folklore, the long taproot makes a good liver tonic and could even cure gallstones. A small seedling appeared in one of my pots last week, but I'm letting it grow and seed around the garden before I start tucking in. I've also

the wiser.I only get pigeons regularly visiting my garden. Last winter I made efforts to entice smaller, hungrier birds, and managed to attract a desperate pair of wagtails, a blackbird, a robin and a blue tit. They disappeared as soon as the ice thawed

With so many people reporting sightings of unusual birds in their gardens - and observing some pretty odd behaviour - I'm struggling to entice anything other than pigeons to my plot. I don't know if I should even take part in this year's RSPB Big

of food, but what about the blue tits, great tits and other small birds? If only I could tell them how much high-energy food is waiting for them in my garden.No matter how hungry birds are, they'll only visit gardens in which they feel safe. A bird

was prompted by Butterfly Conservation's Big Butterfly Count.From 16-31 July, Butterfly Conservation hopes thousands will spend just 15 minutes counting butterflies in their garden, local park, field, forest or school. This will help the charity monitor

(Galanthus spp.).There were no vast swathes of naturalised snowdrops at Chelsea, but small clumps of different cultivars planted in a 'trail', which took us around the garden as we followed it. My favourite was 'S. Arnott', a lovely long-stemmed variety

Yesterday I discovered cuckoo spit on my red valerian (Centranthus ruber). It's considered a pest by many gardeners, but, for me, it's a symbol of great achievement: I've successfully converted a barren, paved courtyard into a lush, green (albeit

garden is tiny and my soil shallow, so I'm growing dwarf French beans and spinach in pots.As well as being small, with shallow soil, my garden is shady, but it gets two hours of strong sun in the afternoon, which I hope will be enough for French beans

Last year I sowed all my seeds in the first week of January, eager to get my brand new garden off to a flying start. Everything was sown at once - from Eryngium leavenworthii to tomato 'Gardener's Delight' and my front room looked like a badly run