Search - Articles

species that take advantage of Flying Ants Day, starlings, swifts and sparrows are in serious decline. According to the RSPB, swifts have declined by a third in recent years, house sparrows by almost 60% since 1979 and starlings by almost 75%. One

rainforest, are for sale in our supermarkets.Of course, many of them end up in good homes. But as they're so often given as gifts in place of cut flowers, do they too end up on the compost heap after they've bloomed?A friend of mine was once a florist, and I

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

is an obvious choice: native British trees don't just absorb CO2, but provide food and shelter for wildlife. Composting helps reduce the amount of waste being sent to landfill and journeys to take it there, and growing your own fruit and veg reduces food waste

and dry in the compost bin.So instead of removing plant debris, digging over borders and mulching this weekend, I'll be out foraging leaves from the park to top up my leaf piles, planting snake's head fritillary bulbs, moving foxglove seedlings and taking

the plants will catch up, but I might not get a harvest until August. My spinach hasn't fared any better - that was eaten by snails.It's not all bad news. My tomatoes and chillies in pots are doing well and the cut-and-come-again lettuce leaves have already

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

she'd caught and kept in a jar, ready for anyone who could give them a good home. I had intended just to take them to the local park, but they were all babies (and, I imagine, fairly traumatised), so I took them home. When I released them they all

.Some plants need moving, some need supporting, some need feeding, some need pruning. Many just need sowing.I need to cut the lawn (we don't have a mower so we do this on our hands and knees with shears.) Luckily it's full of dead patches so it shouldn't take

of putting the nest into the box, sealing it and taking it to its new destination. Let the bees settle and wait until morning before removing the tape from the entrance hole.I had only moved one bumblebee nest before, and that was a disaster. The bees were