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Watch Sarah Raven as she plants lupins and shares her tips on soil acidity and drainage.More advice on growing flowersCreating a cutting patch video project.Planting out cerinthes.Caring for peonies.Growing dahlias from seed.

. In severe cases, growth becomes distorted, leaves curl up, the plant weakens and can die.Natural predators, such as birds, earwigs, ladybirds, lacewings, hoverflies, ground beetles, spiders and parasitic wasps are a gardener's best allies. Some

, thus exposing the bugs to predators. But they're not all bad, as some capsid bugs feed on small pests.a wide range of plants, including chrysanthemums, dahlias, fuchsias, apples, beans and potatoesspring, summerMore common garden pestsLeaf miner fly

anythingearly spring, summerMore common garden pestsLeatherjackets on lawns, brassicas, strawberries and ornamental plantsElephant hawk moth on fuschia plantsWhitefly on greenhouse plantsMullein moth - affecting verbascum, buddleja and figworts.

with the hose.roses, dahlias, fuchsias, lavender, rosemary and many garden plantsspring, summer, autumnMore common garden pestsCapsid bugsEuonymous scalePhormium mealybugScale insects

growth. Check the pots daily.clematis, dahlias, chrysanthemums and other plantsspring, summer, autumnMore common garden pestsWaspsSlugsAntsCaterpillars

.a range of ornamental plants, trees, shrubs, herbs, some vegetables, fruitspring, summerMore common garden pestsAphidsScale insectsFlea beetleEarwigs

Every garden has its fair share of slugs and the bad news is that they are around for most of the year. They're active mostly after dark, especially when it's damp. In hot dry weather they bury themselves to avoid dehydrating.Holes are chewed

.Snails mostly feed at night; mild, damp conditions suiting them best. Go out with a torch and collect them by hand. Either re-home them on a patch of waste ground, well away from your garden as they have a homing instinct, or drop them in a bucket of hot, salty

(causing no damage) to be taken up by the sap-sucking whiteflies.tomatoes, cucumbers, fuchsias, other greenhouse plantsspring, summer, autumnMore common garden pestsAphidsLeaf miner flyEuonymus scaleMealybugs