Beetle-mania

April to June is the best time to see ground beetles. These 1cm long, shiny black beetles are slug predators and can be found hiding under pots and loose piles of branches or rubble. You can lay a sheet of corrugated metal on the ground for the beetles to shelter under. As well as protecting them from predators, it buffers the temperature and moisture levels when summer arrives.

Clematis will soon produce a dense tangle of stems, an ideal bird nesting site. C. montana ‘Elizabeth’ and ‘Odorata’ are excellent scented varieties. Berberis, cowslip and hyacinth will provide nectar for bees. Marsh marigolds in the pond or bog garden provide nectar for butterflies, hoverflies and other insects.

You can safely cut back any remaining perennial stems now as hibernators such as ladybirds should have left and finches took any seeds long ago. The mating season of hedgehogs, shrews and mice has begun.