Gardeners! Here's a good reason NOT to tidy up just yet – Hayley Matthews

Bees, butterflies and other pollinators may be tucked up all cosy in what looks like to us, old twigs and crispy branches.

Some bees hibernate or rest during winter (Picture: Yuri Kadobnov/AFP via Getty Images)

While we might be tempted to tidy it up, they need a safe, sheltered place to spend the winter months so they can protect themselves from the bitter Scottish cold and the odd predator.

It makes me look at my unkempt garden in a different way now. Before I was itching to set about it, but now, I just want to leave it be and never touch it again.

I always feel terrible when I disturb a little beastie. In fact, I was sweeping up the other day when what I thought was a bit of mud turned out to be a huge, dark green, hungry, hairy caterpillar.

It was my three-year-old who spotted it. It caused a lot of commotion and we safely attached her to a big green juicy leaf in the garden.

I suspect she had crawled under the door and came in for a heat and a slice of apple.

But seriously, they and other creatures may have decided to hunker down under a piece of peeling tree bark, or be tucked away in the tiniest corner of your garden, so please, just wait a wee while longer until you go out with those gardening gloves on and your secateurs!

The bees, butterflies and beasties will thank you for it.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.