The Garden Year: October 2025

For this year’s Garden Year linky I’m continuing to share advice from Songbird Survival about how we can make our gardens the best they can be for birds.

This year we’ve managed to get all of our lavender bushes trimmed ahead of the winter, which trust me is no mean feat. We have eight large-ish lavender bushes which can be back breaking work to trim, though on the plus side my garden bin smells the best it ever has!

A path through a garden bordered with lavender bushes - not mine though, but it feels like I have as much as this!

NOT MY LAVENDER, BUT IT FEELS LIKE I HAVE SIMILAR QUANTITIES!

#ThinkBirds

This month, Songbird Survival advise that October is an ideal month for planting trees, hardy summer bulbs and herbaceous perennials, and remember to leave fallen leaves as they provide shelter for wildlife.

Advice, inspiration and places to visit

Leave a link below to share what you’ve been up to in the last month, or add a comment sharing your plans for the upcoming month.

“TheGardenYear

The Garden Year: September 2025

For this year’s Garden Year linky I’m continuing to share advice from Songbird Survival about how we can make our gardens the best they can be for birds.

This summer has been one of very little rain, which has meant quite a lot of worry for my potted plants, and the increasingly urgent need to get them into the ground - but where?! That’s still the great unknown, but in the past month I’ve started to put pots in places where I think I want the plants, which is small steps but it is helping. It’s also meant we see our plants, though clearly I waited until most of the flowers had gone, ah well…

#ThinkBirds

This month, let’s look at the top survival tips for songbirds in our gardens:

  • Forget pesticides and keep it natural. By providing lots of flowers and plants you’re helping wildlife, but your hard work goes out the window if you use a bug spray.

  • Create a pond, I’ll admit this is one I struggle with, but a pond is great for the invertebrates in your garden. You never know you may even attract some frogs, toads and newts to your new space.

  • No garden? No problem! However big, or small, your space is you can make it wildlife friendly. Consider putting up a nest box or grab yourself some potted plants, you’d be surprised at what wildlife you can attract.

  • Make a space for compost - a compost heap is a great way to recycle your garden and kitchen (non-meat) waste, and it creates more habitats for insects, as well as great compost you can use in your garden.

  • Don’t rush to cut back, wait until early spring to cut the garden back. Leaving seed heads and grasses over winter provides food and shelter for birds and it looks great too.

  • Enjoy it! That’s the most important advice for your garden, make time to soak up your hard work and enjoy the wildlife your garden has to offer. The mental health benefits of being outside are good too, soo relax, breathe and listen to your dawn chorus.

Advice, inspiration and places to visit

Leave a link below to share what you’ve been up to in the last month, or add a comment sharing your plans for the upcoming month.

sunflowers and a sunflower seed head
“TheGardenYear

The Garden Year: August 2025

For this year’s Garden Year linky I’m continuing to share advice from Songbird Survival about how we can make our gardens the best they can be for birds.

My gardening is still dominated by the ‘green bin collection dates’ - and as I’ve plenty to cut back and tame from our time away earlier in the year, it’s becoming a bit of a challenge. I’ll get there though, and it’s been great to reclaim the view from the window as the new growth is tidied up!

#ThinkBirds

This month, let’s think water - and water worries. Here in the UK we’ve had a drier than usual start to the year and several regions are officially in drought, with many of those introducing hosepipe bans. But it’s not just us and our plants that need water, the birds do too so keep those bird baths topped up in the warmer summer months.

If you don’t have a bird bath, consider putting out a shallow dish for birds to drink from. I use one of those under-pot ‘saucers’ which I place underneath one of the bushes I know the birds visit - it’s amazing how quickly it dries up when the weather is warm, so remember to keep it topped up.

And also allow seed heads to develop on sunflowers as a treat for the birds.

Advice, inspiration and places to visit

Leave a link below to share what you’ve been up to in the last month, or add a comment sharing your plans for the upcoming month.

“TheGardenYear