• Inspiration for the wildlife-friendly garden: The seaside

    I was lucky enough to spend a week in May enjoying sights such as this:

    I was in Pembrokeshire in west Wales where Choughs seem to call from every clifftop and Gannets plunge dive offshore, and I took the Puffin photo above on the incredible island of Skomer, where some 30,000 breed.

    While there’s nothing you can do to make your garden perfect for Puffins, I’m always on the look-out for lessons I can bring back to…

  • Dual!

    Last May, I was witness to great drama in my pond as a Grass Snake caught and consumed a large Common Frog.

    Although not quite a Crocodile attacking a Hippopotamus, it was nevertheless in a back garden context quite a sight, and something I've never seen before in many, many years of nature watching.

    So when this week, almost a year to the day, I saw a commotion in the pond, I wasn't surprised to go out and find…

  • Inspiration for the wildlife-friendly garden: spring woodland

    I'm just back from a wonderful break in Pembrokeshire, island hopping, enjoying the Puffins, and strolling - nay skipping - across miles of golden sands.

    While there, I had the pleasure of visiting the National Trust’s Stackpole Estate in west Wales, where the woodland flowers were putting on a grand performance.

    Stealing the limelight were copious amounts of Primroses still in flower, an injection of creamy…

  • A fitting end to weeds

    Have you been spending many an hour in the last few weeks dealing with your garden's weeds as they start to run amok? Have you had that sinking feeling that you are fighting a losing battle?

    How different it would it all seem if you felt that those weeds had some kind of purpose?

    Well, the weekend before last, I had the great pleasure of visiting my friends Roy and James, and the surprise for lunch was what we…