This is one of those genus of spiders where all the species need microscopic examination, possibly under dissection, to determine to species level. There are 11 species in Great Britain, but it seems only 3 are relatively common and of those only Xysticus cristatus appears to frequent the sort of vegetation we have in the Garden. Our specimen also happens to best match the images of X. cristatus given in the field guide Britain’s Spiders 1*.
However that’s not enough for us to mark this even as a ‘Most Likely Species’, so for now we will not attempt a species level identification.
DC: 29/05/2023
Wildlife Garden 