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Summer is the ideal time to take leaf cuttings from your houseplants. A single leaf can produce many young plants, and this technique is particularly useful for foliage plants such as Begonia rex.Healthy begonia plantClean, sharp knife and cutting boardPotsFree-draining compost, ...

in early spring.Hyacinth bulbsLarge terracotta potHorticultural gritLoamCompostSharp sandOctober - November30 minutesFebruary - MarchSpread a good layer of horticultural grit in the bottom of your container to help the compost drain efficiently in wet

Saving seed from your garden plants is easy to do and will provide you with plenty to sow next season. Leave a few seedheads on your plants after they've finished flowering, removing the rest to conserve the plant's energy. Alternatively

Follow Monty Don's video advice for sowing sunflower seeds in a fine tilth, for a summer display.summerMore flowers to grow from seedBluebellsExoticsCyclamenDahlias

. Sweet peas dislike root disturbance so grow them in cardboard tubes or coir pots. This will enable you to plant them out in their containers without damaging the roots.Sweet pea seedsSeed compostCardboard tubesJanuary - May20 minutesSow seeds

(pheasant's eye)A small daffodil that only grows to 18cm, it packs a punch with a strong, musky scent in late-April to May. Pale yellow flowers emerge from grassy stems and leaves, and its petals curve back, giving it a shuttlecock look. Ideal for containers

Salad leaves can be grown on a cut-and-come-again basis; harvesting the larger leaves by cutting them, allowing the smaller leaves to grow for a second crop. If you make successional sowings of seeds every three weeks, you will have a constant supply of salad throughout the year....

are very effective, but compost with the chemical imidacloprid controls the larvae for up to a year. Other formulations provide just short-term protection.many plants, container-grown plants are especially vulnerableall year roundMore common garden pests

Shrubs and perennials planted permanently in containers need good quality compost if they are to survive for more than a couple of years. The addition of loam-based compost such as John Innes no.3 will retain a good open structure for plant roots

vegetables and washing up as well as that from baths and showers. Don't use water that contains bleach or powerful household cleaning products, which could damage plants.Water-retaining granules can be added to the compost when planting bedding in pots