Outdoors
Creatures of the night: nocturnal wildlife
Mammals Nocturnal and crepuscular animals depend not so much on good eyesight, but on good hearing, a keen sense, or, in the case of bats, bats sonar. We have many nocturnal and crepuscular mammals in Britain, from foxes and ba...
Gardening: planting trees and shrubs in autumn
There is an old gardening saying: ‘Plant a tree in autumn and command it to grow. Plant a tree in spring and beseech it to grow’. Late autumn is the best time to plant trees and shrubs because it’s then that t...
Gardening: autumn pruning
The best time to prune apple and pear trees, together with some of the soft fruit canes and bushes, is after the sap has stopped rising in autumn. With all pruning make sure you have sharp secateurs or pruning knife in order to...
Fishing – an outdoor sport without age barriers
I was in a tackle shop recently, buying the usual irrelevances, when I noticed a woman, a very old woman, making awkwardly towards the door. She was tall, angular and stooped, and leaned heavily on the stick her white knuckles ...
Gardening: autumn jobs on the allotment
Green Manures Mustard, rye and vicias are some of the hardier green manure crops – that is, plants grown to add nutrients to the soil – that can be sown now, the rest should have been sown earlier in the year. They can ...
Gardening: Five great autumn plants
My five choices for the best autumn plants stand out because they are either great for wildlife, provide a late clamour of colour, or are just a little unusual. They would all also happily fit into an average sized garden. 1. R...
The vivid colours of autumn flora and fauna
Organic gardener and wildlife expert NAOMI FORD says there’s no better time of year than autumn to spot busy birds and beasties, and some plants at their best. With the shortening days our trees and shrubs are starting to...
Trout fishing in New Zealand
The majestic Rangitikei is one of New Zealand’s premier trout fisheries. It rises in the Kaimanawa mountains south of Lake Taupo in the centre of New Zealand’s North Island and winds its way south west to enter the sea in t...