Looking back: A Year in the Wildlife-friendly Garden

So another year is coming to its conclusion, with hopefully more nature saved than lost.

I always like to have a look back and see how things have gone in my garden this year.

It started frosty but the new turf seemed to have taken well around the pond, with more beds dug ready for flowers.

Sparrowhawks have continued to visit daily, with even this intrepid bird skating over to my solar fountain in the cold snap in February.

It was fascinating to see the Yew trees bloom in March...

...and it has been pleasing to see attractive vistas opening up after two initial years of clearing and rationalising what had previously been just an abandoned tangle.

This was a rather macabre but fascinating sight in May, as a Grass Snake lunched on a Frog on the edge of the pond.

By early summer, my experiments with blue and lilac annual flowers were beginning to bear fruit for the bees - this is Scorpionweed.

And in July a Southern Hawker dragonfly arrived to carefully insert eggs in the moss around my pond.

Over the summer I had the absolute delight of visiting some more amazing gardens for Nature's Home magazine - and here's a tantaliser of an amazing one I'll be showcasing in the summer edition.

By September, my garden had colour almost to match as a Kingfisher arrived at my pond...

...while in October the Ivy was graced with delicate Ivy Bees.

And since November there has been a parade of Redwings gorging on the Holly berries.

I hope you have all had a similarly inspiring year in the garden. Have a very happy Christmas, and here's to all our gardens being nature-filled wonderlands in 2018.

Adrian