Jack in the box

Gardeners at Ham House in Richmond have found new allies in their battle to save the garden’s box hedges – jackdaws. The birds have been spotted feasting on the destructive caterpillars of the box tree moth, which in its native China is controlled by a parasitic wasp but was thought until now to have no natural predators here. The garden team are now looking at ways to attract more jackdaws and other birds, by changing the way they prune the hedges. nationaltrust.org.uk