Growing Family

UK home and garden blog sharing ideas, inspiration and tips for busy family life, written by Catherine Hughes

  • Home
  • About
    • About Me – Catherine Hughes
    • Contact / PR
    • Disclosure
    • Privacy Policy
  • Garden
    • What to Plant Now
    • Garden Jobs this Month
    • Container Gardening
    • Growing Guides
    • Grow Your Own
    • Gardening with Children
    • Garden Tips
    • Garden Design
    • Houseplants
    • In Season Now
    • Birth Month Flowers
  • Interiors
    • Interior Design Tips
    • Living Room
    • Kitchen & Dining
    • Bedroom
    • Bathroom
    • Family Home
  • Nature
    • Exploring Nature
    • Days Out
    • Travel
  • Craft
    • Nature Craft
    • Kids Craft
    • Crafts for Adults
  • Family Fun
    • Jokes & Puns
    • Inspiring Quotes

How to keep squirrels off bird feeders: 10 easy tips

October 17, 2023 by Catherine

Collaborative post Are you struggling to keep squirrels off bird feeders in your garden? These persistent garden visitors can be very entertaining to watch, and many people enjoy having them around. However, squirrels are very clever when it comes to accessing bird feeders, and if you’re not careful, they can consume the majority of the food you put out for wild birds. If you’re keen to make your garden wildlife-friendly by ...

Read More »

Filed Under: Garden Tips Tagged With: Bird feeder, Garden hacks, Wildlife

Growing sunflowers in pots: easy step-by-step guide

August 24, 2023 by Catherine

If you're looking for easy seeds to grow with children, it's hard to beat growing sunflowers in pots. If you're not gardening with children, sunflowers are still fantastic plants to grow, and they make wonderful cut sunflowers too. This step-by-step guide shows you how to grow sunflowers in pots and get the best results. It covers which seeds to choose, tips on planting sunflower seeds, and advice on caring for sunflowers. I've also included ...

Read More »

Filed Under: Container Gardening, Gardening with Children, Growing Guides Tagged With: Activity, Birds, Children, Family, Flowering plants, Flowers, Garden, Garden tips, Garden tools, gardening, gardening equipment, Gardening with children, growing from seed, Minibeasts, Nature, Outdoors, Planting, Plants, popular, Seedlings, Seeds, Spring, Sunflower, Sunflowers, Top Tips, Wildlife

Clearing your garden? Be careful not to disturb hedgehogs

November 9, 2022 by Catherine Leave a Comment

Collaborative post Autumn is a great time of year to clear foliage and junk from your garden. However, it's getting colder outside, which means wildlife will be taking refuge from the elements. It's important to ensure you don't injure them when clearing your garden.  People often use this time of year to rake up fallen leaves, remove moss build-up, and carry out general garden jobs to keep their garden in pristine condition for the winter ...

Read More »

Filed Under: Garden Tips Tagged With: Garden, gardening, hedgehogs, Nature, Top Tips, Wildlife, Wildlife gardening

How to make a pumpkin bird feeder

August 15, 2022 by Catherine Leave a Comment

Are you looking for fun ways to make a DIY bird feeder?  This simple step-by-step tutorial shows you how to turn a pumpkin into a fantastic homemade bird feeder with a few basic supplies. This is just one of the fun activities from my book *A Year of Nature Craft and Play.  Packed with a whole year’s worth of crafts, games, art activities, science experiments and gardening projects, it's designed to help kids spend time outdoors and ...

Read More »

Filed Under: Craft, Kids Craft, Nature Craft Tagged With: A Year of Nature Craft & Play, Bird feeder, Birds, craft, Eco-friendly, Halloween, Kids craft, Nature, Nature Craft, pumpkins, Wild birds, Wildlife

Win a Butterfly Border Kit from garden wildlife experts Vivara

July 15, 2022 by Catherine 45 Comments

This is a collaborative post in partnership with Vivara. Would you like to welcome more butterflies to your garden? This lovely giveaway from wildlife experts Vivara will help you do just that. I've got one of their Beautiful Butterfly Border Kits packed with plants and wildlife-friendly products to give away to a lucky reader. Read on to find out more about Vivara and enter the giveaway. Garden wildlife products from ...

Read More »

Filed Under: Giveaways Tagged With: Butterflies, competition, Flowers, Garden, gardening, giveaway, Nature, Wildlife, Wildlife gardening

5 great ways to explore wildlife with kids

October 25, 2021 by Catherine Leave a Comment

Collaborative post There are so many great reasons to explore wildlife with kids. As well as educating children about the behaviour and biology of wild animals, it's an easy way to encourage them to have love and compassion for other creatures. In addition, many studies have shown that every aspect of the health and wellness of a child improves with exposure to the natural world. And of course, kids love to get hands-on with nature and ...

Read More »

Filed Under: Exploring Nature Tagged With: Animals, Books, Children, Family, Family Fun, holidays, Nature, nature play, Outdoor Play, Outdoors, Wildlife

30+ brilliant nature books for kids

October 12, 2021 by Catherine Leave a Comment

a year of nature craft and play book by catherine hughes and becky goddard-hill

Are you looking for the perfect nature books for kids? Whether you'd like to treat a child who already loves nature, or are keen to encourage them to explore the natural world more, there's lots here to inspire you. Why it's a brilliant idea to get kids engaged with nature Nature is the most wonderful resource for educating, inspiring and engaging kids. Playing, exploring and crafting with nature is an accessible, low-cost and ...

Read More »

Filed Under: Exploring Nature Tagged With: A Year of Nature Craft & Play, Activity book, Animals, Books, Children, Gardening with children, Gift Guide, Gifts, Imaginative play, Insects, Nature, Nature Craft, nature play, Outdoor Play, Parenting, sustainable living, Trees, Wildlife

Fun hobbies & crafts for autumn

September 12, 2021 by Catherine Leave a Comment

Collaborative post With summer coming to a close, are you starting to think about hobbies and crafts to keep you occupied during autumn and winter? At this time of year the days get shorter and temperatures drop, but that doesn't necessarily mean you have to spend your free time indoors. Being outside and engaging with nature is a simple, low-cost way to combat stress and support your emotional wellbeing, so taking the hobbies outside as ...

Read More »

Filed Under: Craft, Crafts for Adults Tagged With: Autumn, Baking, craft, crafting, Foraging, gardening, hobbies, Nature, Nature Craft, Painting, pottery, Wildlife

Win a Happy Beaks bird feeding bundle

August 31, 2021 by Catherine 112 Comments

This is a collaborative post in partnership with Happy Beaks Would you like to do more to look after your local wild birds? This great giveaway from Happy Beaks will help you provide a feast for your feathered friends this autumn. Why is it important to feed wild birds? As the seasons shift towards shorter days and colder temperatures, it's harder for wild birds to find food. By the time winter arrives, natural sources of food such ...

Read More »

Filed Under: Giveaways Tagged With: Bird feed, Bird feeder, Birds, competition, Garden, giveaway, Happy Beaks, Wild birds, Wildlife, Wildlife gardening

How to garden for wildlife: 50 easy ways to make your garden wildlife friendly

July 15, 2021 by Catherine Leave a Comment

Would you like to make your garden more wildlife friendly?  It’s an increasingly popular garden trend, as more and more of us learn about just how important it is to use our outdoor spaces to help wildlife. What is wildlife gardening? Wildlife gardening, or wild gardening, is an approach to gardening that aims to support your local wildlife.  The plants you grow, the products you use, the layout of your garden, and the way you ...

Read More »

Filed Under: Garden Tips Tagged With: Bats, Bees, Birds, Butterflies, eco friendly gardening, environmentally friendly gardening, Flowers, Garden, Garden tips, gardening, Gardening with children, hedgehogs, Nature, No Dig gardening, Plants, Top Tips, Wild birds, Wildlife, Wildlife gardening

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • …
  • 7
  • Next Page »

Hi, I’m Catherine. Welcome to Growing Family, a top UK home & garden blog sharing ideas, inspiration and tips for making the most of busy family life, indoors and out.
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Search

ORDER MY BOOKS

Popular Posts

  • 73 inspirational gardening quotes and garden sayings

    73 inspirational gardening quotes and garden sayings

  • Growing sunflowers in pots: easy step-by-step guide

    Growing sunflowers in pots: easy step-by-step guide

  • How to grow garlic: easy step-by-step guide

    How to grow garlic: easy step-by-step guide

  • 20 of the best trailing plants for hanging baskets and pots

    20 of the best trailing plants for hanging baskets and pots

  • Best winter plants for pots: 25 stunning low maintenance plants

    Best winter plants for pots: 25 stunning low maintenance plants

  • The best low maintenance plants for outdoor pots, and how to take care of them

    The best low maintenance plants for outdoor pots, and how to take care of them

VuelioTop10Badge2020

BRAMBLECREST GARDEN FURNITURE

Connect

Catherine Hughes is a home & garden blogger sharing ideas, inspiration & tips for making the most of busy family life, indoors and out.
Learn More

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Categories

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Copyright Growing Family 2023