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will generally follow suit. A bee-friendly garden should have a mix of nectar and pollen-rich flowers from March to November and somewhere to nest. There are six or seven (of 24) species of bumblebee that are likely to visit our gardens, each with different

fascinating, but very obscure book called 'The balance of nature, and modern conditions of cultivation: a practical manual of animal foes and friends for the country gentleman, the farmer, the forester, the gardener and the sportsman', written by one George

pretty widespread, especially around the midlands.Muntjac are not friends of the gardener and are quite capable of doing a fair bit of damage, not only to the soft shoots of emerging plants but can also strip bark from trees. You can deter them from

Garden Birdwatch.Birds will only visit gardens where they feel safe. The ideal bird-friendly garden has a mixture of trees and shrubs for birds to shelter in, a lawn from which ground-feeding birds can forage for ants and worms, and a wild, grassy area

, then after a minute or two's pause the rear part of the procession dutifully walked around their crushed relatives/friends and carried on their way.We traced them back to the most amazing 'ball' of caterpillars which gradually unfurled to release those

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-friendly

and inquisitive children, eager to find out all about the wildlife they have found and held in their own hands. Their eyesight is so good, and they're all immensely proud of the often tiny specks of protoplasm which would be passed over in a blink by their parents

.But two days later I get a call that the beast has been seen, found, captured, and is awaiting my attention in a garden refuse bag in the Portakabin. So now our private menagerie has increased by one snake.Our scaly friend precisely illustrates, for me

is, to a large extent, the result of gardening habits. The more bird-friendly the garden, the more birds it will support.As we and the birds enjoy the summer sunshine, autumn and winter (when food is more scarce) are only a couple of months away

I have bumblebees nesting in my garden. They didn't choose to live there, I introduced them. Or rather, I rescued them.With a reputation for being a bit of a bee fanatic, I get the odd call from friends of friends who have bumblebees nesting