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Going for walks in Dulwich and Sydenham Hill Woods, Peckham Rye or Nunhead Cemetery, I often hear the tap-tap-tapping of great spotted woodpeckers from high up in the trees as they test the dead boughs for tasty insect morsels. We have no large trees in our garden, but a few days...

Once again Christmas is over and the house seems even more full than before (as do our tummies!) but it's been a good few days. The hens had a great time with all their kitchen scraps, but it's the wild birds I especially enjoy watching at this time of year.The hedge outside is c...

I don't know how long the frisbee had been lying there, but when I broke it free from the stiff frosted grass beside the pond, it left a circle of tell-tale yellowing stems and roots beneath. When I turned it over I was maybe expecting some torpid snails, or perhaps a dew-encrust...

The danger of frozen water pipes is on my mind during this freezing weather, but I'm also concerned that garden birds are suffering, too.Water in my bird bath quickly turns into a solid sheet of ice on cold nights, and hasn't been thawing out during the day either, as temperature...

We've had to cut down most of the Clematis montana. It had already done some damage to the featheredge and was threatening to bring down the entire fence. Oh well. It was a fast grower when we first planted it and has provided us with a huge drift of pale, blousy flowers for the ...

My 2010 garden tally of butterfly species is now up to six. We've had single visits from large white, comma, peacock and small tortoiseshell. They obviously didn't find much of interest in my garden, so dipped down, bustled about one circuit of the lawn, then zoomed up and away. ...

Yesterday I discovered cuckoo spit on my red valerian (Centranthus ruber). It's considered a pest by many gardeners, but, for me, it's a symbol of great achievement: I've successfully converted a barren, paved courtyard into a lush, green (albeit tiny) garden.The garden isn't per...

The soil here is rock solid. Fortunately, I planted the last of the garlic last week, before temperatures plummeted. Now, I'd need to use an ice axe, rather than a fork if I wanted to plant anything.I answered the door recently to a courier, who was rather amused to find me weari...

I don't think the squirrels liked the snow. Apart from the fact that they found it difficult to retrieve their buried nuts, each time they hopped, they were completely engulfed in the stuff. In south-east London we only had 3 or 4 inches but that's as high as a squirrel's eye her...

The snow vanished as quickly as it arrived, and contrary to all expectations, there were no rotting mammoth carcasses exposed by the thaw. But now it's back again.All looks still and quiet out there. The heavy blanket is as much a duvet of silence, as a quilt of whiteness. But th...