Is the hot summer all but a dream or will there be more good weather to come? Who knows, in this green and pleasant land, if and when sunshine and warmth will be with us... 

If you haven’t yet watched ‘A Life on Our Planet’ a nature and ecology documentary starring Sir David Attenborough, you need to schedule a living-room sitting as soon as possible. The broadcaster recounts the most memorable aspects of his life and reveals the shocking changes that have taken place over the 94 years since he has lived on the planet Earth. But why should any of us care, and what's it got to do with gardens?

We've all heard of biodiversity, it's one of the buzz words of the 21st century. But what does it mean and why does it matter? Should we care that global biodiversity losses are turning into a crisis?

The ground in winter can be saturated after many days and weeks of rain and most scientists predict that the extreme weather we tend to experience now in the UK will become ‘normal’. Call it climate change or just prolonged periods of ‘wet’, followed by extended times of ‘dry’, the results can be devastating for people living in low areas or around rivers. And, of course, for those using land for food production and other purposes.

But there are steps that can be taken to help alleviate the damage that results from flooding and even to prevent the events happening in the first place...

Brexit, a neologism that we have all come to know and maybe despise. But there’s no doubt it will have an impact on all sorts of things, including gardening habits. So what might Brexit mean for gardeners?

How many people break their New Year's Resolutions?

Are we setting ourselves up for failure when we make those New Year’s Resolutions? It seems that around 88% of people fail to achieve their goals, and by the end of February a high proportion can’t even remember what they resolved to change in their lives.  Here are the reasons why we do it and five top tips for success:

Twitter, Tweets and wild birds in your garden. Is there a connection?

We all know that a tweet is a sound coming from a bird, rather than characters originating from a digital device. Right? The majority of the younger generation wouldn’t agree. Tweets are part of Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone and Evan Williams’ idea for what was originally a ‘short message service’ communications system. A bit like texting, but for groups. In the 12 years or so since Twitter was created, the number of active users has risen to around 336 million each month, making it one of the biggest social networks. This bald eagle (below) would be a wonderful sight to see in the wild!

The right plant in the right place is the thing to do. Choose appropriate plants for a dry garden as it's possible for them to survive without extra water. And use plants to soak up water in flood and waterlogged zones.

There are many ways to try keeping cool during hot, dry and sunny weather. Some are obvious and others, less so. Garden umbrellas are probably the first line of defence. Put up several before the sun rises, and not only will the shade provide a mini-refuge, but the air flow around the umbrella will create a little breeze too. You don't need a fancy stand, some garden parasols, such as the Eazy Shade from Cave Innovations, come with multi-function clips and clamps so that they can attach to chairs and tables.