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, commuters, joggers and roller bladers (even though there are signs saying not to, but hey - this is Paris). There's lots going on but I have to admit that there are not many signs of wildlife. The plants are fastidiously tended and the borders manicured

at the weekend. It was only when I was looking at the RSPB Homes for Wildlife website that I notice they advise not to use tap-water. Since the new ring-main was built through South London about 10 years ago, the chlorine levels in our drinking water have gone

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

woodland in Yorkshire. Acidic soil makes for much brighter autumn colours.Lytes Cary, Somerset: one of the smaller, more intimate National Trust properties. There are lots of autumn activities including wildlife trails around the gardens and estate

A bit of garden clearance in the rain is always therapeutic. Working off a good lunch and feeling the drip of water down my neck, I feel my endeavours are all the more noble. Actually all I'm doing is ripping the vine out of the apple tree it's been trying to smother for the last...

featured on the front cover of the very first issue of Gardeners' World Magazine back in March 1991 and wrote a wildlife gardening column for us for many years. I've fond memories of visiting his garden near Harrogate to take pictures for the magazine

Big news from the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch survey results just out: the long-tailed tit has made it, for the first time in the survey's 30-year history, into the top 10. I hardly ever saw these gregarious little birds until I moved to East Dulwich a decade ago. Until then, I'd a...

A recent comment to a blog entry got me thinking about vine weevils. I haven't seen many in my garden for a few years. I wonder if this is the result of my zero-tolerance approach. Along with lily beetles, this is about the only creature I will deliberately crush under foot. Even...

According to the old adage: a swarm of bees in May is worth a load of hay, a swarm of bees in June is worth a silver spoon. So what is a swarm of bees in April worth? No, I couldn't think of a rhyme either.It can't happen very often, so I was very surprised to see the tell-tale s...

There are wolf spiders all over my garden, so last week I had the Ivydale School Natural History Club semaphore signalling across the classroom. There is a connection … honest.These are great little spiders, very distinctive, unless you need to know exactly which one of our nearl...