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, and certainly there have been some moth-eaten examples limping through South London streets. But now I wonder whether all the recent garden make-overs in my area have seen them off.When we moved here 10 years ago, a pleasing number of neighbouring gardens

. It is time to bounce into 2010 with a light step and the feeling that valleys can be crossed in a single bound.Many people will have decided that the time has come to start growing their own vegetables. All those excellent Gardeners World projects and blogs

maintenance team and trespasser), which provides a habitat for wildlife. In more urban areas there are escapees from people's gardens - for example on the route to London from my house there's a great swathe of trackside covered with Fallopia baldschuanicum

.Another ladybird that is regularly found overwintering in gardens is the 16-spot, Tytthaspis sedimpunctata, another mildew feeder. A couple of years ago these were very common clustered at the bottom of the featheredge fence slats, but this year there don't seem

at first look unappealing and unattractive, they are nevertheless home to 12–14 per cent of all our red data book and nationally scarce insect species; that’s more than you find in ancient woodlands or on chalk downs.The reason they are so important

exploring the teeth. Yet more wildlife habitat in my urban garden.

to town and urban spaces, and as a hardy annuals they are easy to grow from seed. Their popularity has also made them a favourite for cover mounting on Gardeners' World Magazine over the years – you may even be growing our '20th Anniversary Mix' sweet pea

in urban areas where parking spaces are at a premium and there's a lack of availability of public transport. The popularity of low-maintenance gardens among the time-poor is also a factor. The RHS estimates around 12 square miles of London are lost

There's a park near me. It's a great place to escape the urban sprawl. There, I've spotted eight species of bumblebee (including a winter buff-tailed colony), plus honey, solitary and feather-footed bees. I've also seen butterflies, great spotted