How to create a container garden for wildlife
Pots and containers are a great way of introducing wildlife features onto patios, or outside the front door. They are also perfect for small gardens or spaces like window ledges or roofs. Herbs,…
Pots and containers are a great way of introducing wildlife features onto patios, or outside the front door. They are also perfect for small gardens or spaces like window ledges or roofs. Herbs,…
The Tree bumblebee is a new arrival to the UK. First recorded here in 2001, it is slowly spreading north. It prefers open woodland and garden habitats and can be found nesting in bird boxes and…
Have you ever seen the curious face of a grey seal bobbing in the waves when visiting the beach? Grey seals can be seen lying on beaches waiting for their food to go down. Sometimes they are…
Elise has been coming to Potted Histories for four years. The activities help her overcome the pain that arthritis causes her, and to cope better with her diabetes because being outside makes her…
30 years ago, if Jeremy had fallen in the river then he’d have been more worried about being poisoned than drowned! A 1980s trawl survey found just one fish in the Billingham reach of the Tees,…
A climbing plant of hedgerows and woodlands, Black bryony produces greenish flowers in summer and red, shiny berries in autumn. It is a poisonous plant.
The scorpion fly, as its name suggests, has a curved 'tail' that looks like a sting. It is, in fact, the males' claspers for mating. It is yellow and black, with a long 'beak…
The male whitethroat does, indeed, have a white throat! Arriving from Sub-Saharan Africa in April, it can be spotted on grassland and scrub, and along hedgerows. It is bigger than the lesser…
These non-native limpets arrived from America in the 19th century and are now widespread in the UK. They form stacks and have a specially adapted shell which, when flipped upside down, looks like…
The all-black carrion crow does not nest in colonies like the similar rook. It can be seen almost everywhere.
Most arable fields are large, featureless monocultures devoid of wildlife, but here and there are smaller fields and tucked away corners that are farmed less intensively, or are managed…