You'll by now have probably gathered that I LOVE hedges. I think they are such an out-and-out winner for so much garden wildlife.

So I thought today's blog could be very pictorial, in the hope that it will inspire someone out there - maybe you! - to take up our special offer with Ashridge Trees and plant one (remember to quote the special code RSAT112 to get your discount and for Ashridge to make their donation…

I myself am a creature myself of warm, sunny places. I can 'do' snow and ice if I have to, but only from the comfort of several layers of thermals.

So I find myself drawn to those species of garden wildlife that help me cling onto the idea that we're still closer to summer than we are to winter.

The 'winter deniers' in my garden this week have included Chiffchaffs, those little olive-coloured warblers that…

There is a Sedum that you can find in almost every garden centre and garden called Sedum 'Herbstfreude'. Sometimes you see it under the same name but translated into English, Sedum 'Autumn Joy'.

It's that fleshy Iceplant that grows to about a foot and a half tall, with clusters of deep pink flowers on top from August through into October.

Soon after I started out in gardening for wildlife, I read…

Don't you love it when a creature seems to deserve the name it has been given, ones which do what it says on the tin, such as Pied Wagtail or Pond Skater.

And here's another - the moth called the Silver Y.

There it is, right in the middle of the wing - a silver 'Y'. Perfect.

What camouflage too! Here it is, sat on the dried seedhead of a plantain, its back with all sort of knobbles and protruberances…