As you make your way to the new compost heaps at the garden, you pass a big pile of logs next to a hedge. There are several log piles nearby, but this particular pile is the one I go to, because it’s so convenient, whilst the next one along is surrounded by tall nettles. The pile attracts, amongst other... Read more..

Thousands of aphids have suddenly appeared in Oxfordshire. I can squish them, blast them with a jet of water from the hose or spray them. I don’t like spraying because it harms the beneficial insects as well as the pests, so generally squish or blast. As luck would have it, this year the predators have... Read more..

Arriving at a garden the other morning, I just missed treading on a chafer grub beetle, otherwise known as a May bug or Melolontha melolontha . This one was sitting very still in the middle of a lawn, which was not a good place. I wondered if had been there since the previous night as these beetles are... Read more..