Catching lily beetles can be tricky, as they hide or drop off onto the ground at the slightest touch [...]

One of my favourite things about gardening is the element of surprise. You can design and plan a garden to the finest detail, but you have no control over what will land in your plot.

It would have been much easier to find yew or box, but I wanted to stick to this little-leafed holly as, with box blight ravaging our formal gardens, it represents our gardening future.