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The soil here is rock solid. Fortunately, I planted the last of the garlic last week, before temperatures plummeted. Now, I'd need to use an ice axe, rather than a fork if I wanted to plant anything.I answered the door recently to a courier, who

It boggles my mind to consider how many millions of tonnes of horticultural material must be shipped around the globe each year. And with the plants and soil come the insects. We are lucky in the UK in that we have a relatively cool temperate

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 think we have foxes living under our garden shed. I first noticed the scratching in the soil a week or so ago. It didn't look like very much excavation had occured and the hole didn't appear to go very far. But now we have more earth-moving going

Stag beetles lay eggs underground near rotting wood. The larvae of these insects live in the wood for up to five years, before pupating to become adults. Help protect this endangered species by making a simple habitat for them.BucketBark chippingsSoil

sodden sponge in the four or five years they have been embedded in the moist soil. Our plot is at the bottom of a gentle slope, and since this is heavy London clay, we are lucky as the lower beds are very rarely in danger of drought, even in mid summer

feared. The really sharp cold of last week had lifted slightly and the soil was not frozen solid. In fact it was nearly as friable as normal. We just don't get hard winters in London any more. As we lowered the small cardboard box, which previously held

wildlife, they can be made into great plant food and are a surprisingly versatile ingredient in the kitchen.The nettle we're used to in the UK is Urtica dioica, a perennial plant full of iron, calcium, magnesium and nitrogen, which makes it incredibly

in the moist soil is a wireworm. I know these are supposed to be notorious garden and agricultural pests, but like so many insects, I can't really treat them as pests unless they reach pest proportions. A few of last year's potatoes had small holes in them

home, although on occasions I've had two vying for my attention - or rather scrambling into newly dug soil in search of a tasty morsel or two.Robins are welcome companions to anyone gardening during winter, and always provide me with a moment to pause