The autumn equinox has passed, and the garden has crossed an almost invisible line.

In this episode, Josef explores the quiet change from summer growth to autumn provision. Hawthorn berries, rose hips, blackberries and apples begin to fill the garden’s natural larder, while flowering ivy becomes an invaluable late source of nectar for bees, hoverflies and other insects.

Closer to the ground, autumn fungi reveal just a glimpse of the extraordinary hidden world working beneath our feet, breaking down fallen material and returning it to the soil.

There’s also fruit to gather and spring bulbs to plant — a reminder that gardening is always connected to what comes next. A bulb planted now may become an important source of food for an emerging queen bumblebee months from now.

The garden may be beginning to quieten, but it is far from empty. It is simply shifting its energy into different places.

Gardening on the Wild Side with Josef Lloyd is a weekly, bite-sized wander through the changing garden and the wildlife that shares it.

Find out more: https://gardeningonthewildside.co.uk

There comes a point in September when the garden begins to change almost before we notice it.

In this first episode, Josef wanders through a garden sitting gently between summer and autumn - where flowers are still opening, fruit is ripening and bees remain busy, but seed heads, dew and softer morning light are beginning to hint at what comes next.

It is also a time when the instinct to tidy can become difficult to resist. But fading flowers, hollow stems, longer grass and fallen material can all provide food, shelter and habitat for the creatures sharing our gardens.

Josef looks at how a garden can remain cared for without becoming overly controlled, and why leaving some seed heads, stems, logs and quieter corners untouched can make it richer, more interesting and more alive.

Sometimes the most useful thing we can do in a garden is not another job at all.

It is simply to notice what is already happening, and leave a little room for the wild.

Find out more: https://gardeningonthewildside.co.uk