The last bit of major wildflower colour in our front garden and what a beaut! @lgspace.bsky.social

Pond & Meadow prepped for winter. Meadow patch left to continue feeding the bees & provide shelter for inverts over winter @worcswt.bsky.social

If sowing a new meadow, go big! In the table below I've based sowing rates on a commercial mix; if you only create 1 square metre using their sowing rates, you are unlikely to get all the species 'advertised'; the number of seeds sown is simply too low! @lgspace.bsky.social

Where are all the birds that could be eating all this food in our #BumbleBird patch. Even the sparrows have disappeared after rearing three broods in our garden. @rspbengland.bsky.social

One day, nearly 2000 years ago, a cat dashed across some drying tiles, somewhere near Hadrian's Wall. It's immortality of a kind, isn't it?

Perhaps a bit late to get these in, but I’m really interested in seeing how Cotswold Seeds new range of small packet green manures do. I’ll still use my go to phacelia, & have sown one part with both!

One great thing about growing your own grapes is being able to take a large handful, shove them in your mouth and releasing all of the wonderful grape juice!

My new #WildlifePond has a long way to go, but it will get there!

The RAU & Asahi supported the BBPA at the House of Commons to demonstrate what was being done as part of #BrewingGreen. We discussed the challenges faced by the remaining 42 hop growers in the UK, and how our research in collaboration with Warwick Uni will lead to more resilience.

UK gardens cover c270,000 hectares – more than all the country's National Nature Reserves. And nature-friendly gardens – even small ones – can form a huge network of green spaces that are havens for wildlife. More: littlegreenspace.org.uk/features/Wil...

New addition to #WildlifePond an amphibian refuge. Most people forget about this. Where are they meant to go when they aren’t in your pond? @arc-trust.bsky.social @freshwaterhabitats.bsky.social

To create access to the wealth of seed in our #BumbleBird patch, I’ve created a strip across it. Hopefully this enough… @rspb.bsky.social

Wildflower strip cut & collected, with patch left to overwinter. Cuttings put on top of habitat piles!

Which bat are you today? There's a strong case to be made for #3 🤪 📸 Jennifer Barros

Great point Miles! If we had biocontrol of all non-native invasive species like this in the UK it would be lovely!

Every day the government delays banning the sale of peat compost means more carbon lost to the atmosphere from this appalling practice www.wildlifetrusts.org/news/vast-ar...

Really can’t believe this; a frog has already found the pond only hours after I finished it!

Frog/Toad pond complete! It’s got a long way to go before it looks anything like my other wildlife pond, but it will get there! @arc-trust.bsky.social @freshwaterhabitats.bsky.social

Join Wild Justice at the inaugural Wild Summit for an interactive and visual dive into the past, present and future of what George Monbiot describes as the ‘bronze plague’. Bristol Beacon, 11 Sept, all day! wildjustice.org.uk/general/join...

Wildlife pond #2 nearly complete! Will let it settle in before I start covering the flaps! @freshwaterhabitats.bsky.social @arc-trust.bsky.social

Two frogs have setup home in this tray of plants rather than use our wildlife pond! I have therefore decided to create a frog/toad pond that hopefully the GCNs won’t like!

Growing lemongrass this year has been “interesting”!

1/2 I got so excited seeing this in the river in Prague……

I’ve been helping large white butterflies again this year, but I’m surprised that so many caterpillars have been parasitised by their parasitoid. I’m a big advocate of #Biocontrol but not when I’m trying to help the host!

140g of coriander seed harvested from this patch! It can be kept & sown or used in cooking. Another thing we’re self sufficient for! #LivingWell4LessImpact

Very pleased that I’ve got lots of Wild Clary (Salvia verbenaca) to germinate from seed collected from a remnant patch at the RAU in Cirencester. In prep to create new patches to reduce risk of loss @gloswildlife.bsky.social

Very pleased with this introduced patch of devil’s-bit scabious, now in its 2nd year. #FeedtheBees @bumblebeetrust.bsky.social

Very sad to see extensive cover of this invasive species (Impatiens edgeworthii) in Berlin’s historic park (Tiergarten). As it’s an annual species, mowing should be tried, perhaps it has…

Many of us remember the 10p back on a glass bottle of lemonade; something we should perhaps reinstate in the UK to put back value in our “waste”. In Berlin, lots of people actively collect such “waste” & cash in.

It’s not just young people that spend too much time on their phones oblivious to what’s going on around them!

We will never stop building houses & never stop destroying habitats until a point is reached that is do or die, perhaps in 100 years time. In the meantime, let’s be smart. I don’t see any policies or ways forward for a sustainable future. Human survival is too tied up in politics.

We will never stop building houses & never stop destroying habitats until a point is reached that is do or die, perhaps in 100 years time. In the meantime, let’s be smart. I don’t see any policies or ways forward for a sustainable future. Human survival is too tied up in politics.

Wildflower patch dynamics. Lawns don’t have to be boring!

A patch in our lawn of black knapweed (Centaurea nigra), which I don’t think I have shared with you before as it’s only recently flowered

I asked ChatGPT to “Create a cartoon image based on what you can find out about Duncan B. Westbury” and this is what it came up with.

This oak tree that I grew from an acorn now has its final resting place. I just need to live for another 50 years in the same house to help secure its future! Wish me luck!

Finally some flowering in this patch of Devil’s-bit Scabious! It is a late flowering species, but the dry weather hasn’t been kind. @bsbibotany.bsky.social

Patches & Strips of floral resources set within an #EcoLawn make for an interesting garden for wildlife.

Very pleased to have spotted another one of these in our #WildlifeGarden today. Still no sign of hedgehogs though after 13 yrs of seeing them every year.

Now is a great time to harvest your own field scabious seed before it drops! Collect and sow in a seed tray slightly covered & keep moist. You will have seedlings in 2-3 weeks. Fresh seed is very viable so you won’t need much!

Take a look at the reference quoted by Duncan: The Plant Foes of the Farmer by William Carruthers! Doesn't get going on Yellow Rattle until fourth page, but then!! @duncanwestbury.bsky.social archive.org/details/jour...

I’m assuming these two bumblebees have died of old age? One last feed & the heavy rain finished them off? #BumbleBird patch @bumblebeetrust.bsky.social

At this time of year field scabious is a great resource for many bees, like this leaf cutter bee.

Quite a party on this wild carrot flower!

Do you still need convincing? phys.org/news/2025-07...

Sad to find this, but if you come across one it’s a pigmy shrew. @mammalsociety.bsky.social

Some nice plants in our #BumbleBird patch. Please note, this is NOT a meadow!

This #NationalMeadowsDay, help us urge governments to protect our last irreplaceable meadows 📢. These vital ecosystems support both nature and us—but once lost, they’re gone forever. ✍️ Write to your MP or MSP today and demand their protection: https://loom.ly/ADenswU #IrreplaceableMeadows

Oh dear @nationaltrust.org.uk how have you got this so terribly wrong. Please contact me directly if you want to create a wildflower meadow & not an annual cornfield area. @the-wildlifetrusts.bsky.social