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I’m going to plant my bulbs earlier this year, to avoid disturbing any hibernating creatures in colder weather. I've just bought 20 winter aconites, 20 Nectaroscordum siculum, and the Gardeners’ World magazine offers: 100 free alliums and 160

What a spring we're having. Provisional Met Office reports suggest April was the warmest on record. It was also the 11th driest, based on average rainfall across the UK. Scotland's rainfall has been 110% above normal levels, while the South-East has

in flower all year round. I've never seen a frog there but I know they're about as last year the pond was full of frogspawn and tadpoles. That was, until the pond was drained in spring.I never found out why the pond was drained. It was filled in again

wagtails visited during the coldest weather).In spring a pair of great tits and a blue tit used my garden to snack on peanuts while foraging for their young. They were all gone by July and my garden was, once again, Pigeon City. In October there were still

What an odd assortment of weather we've had this year. In just 12 months my garden has experienced heavy snow, a spring heatwave followed by a drab, damp summer, then a second heatwave in autumn. Some parts of the country have experienced drought

't often seen together. The Gardeners' World TV crew was camped outside it for a large portion of the day, so look out for it on tonight's programme (13 May, 2011).Talking of diversity, the warm spring has ensured that the plant marquee has a much greater

stubbing - I couldn't move my foot. Comforting myself with the knowledge that most people who think they've broken a toe actually haven't, I cycled the 15 miles home and had a bath.The next morning my foot was so swollen I couldn't walk. I managed to drag

Last spring I found a foxglove seedling in a pot, which had presumably self-seeded from a neighbour's garden. Excited, I potted it on and nurtured it in anticipation of seeing it flower this year. (Foxgloves are biennial, so flower in their second

magnet for bumblebees.There are a few green manures to sow now, suitable for a range of soil types:1. Grazing rye (Secale cereale) improves soil structure. Sow from August to November and dig in the following spring.2. Winter field bean (Vicia faba

by slugs and snails, and I spent many hours watching blackbirds foraging among the debris.In spring I tackled the garden in one go, removing leaves spiked on emerging bulbs, clearing spent stems and staking perennials. Only the still-sleeping frogs