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lacewings have started to seek out basic B with no B in the old out building near my house. Their young or larval stages are such voracious predators of aphids that I'm happy to have their parents to stay any time! Quite often they turn up in the house too

, as there were two or three ladybird couples mating on the plants, I chose to let nature take its course and let the blackfly be (ladybird larvae have a voracious appetite for aphids). This week I popped down and found so many ladybirds that I worried there weren

and moisture, and you'll soon enjoy statuesque plants heavy with cobs.Give wooden furniture a faceliftCut back climbing plants that are hanging down Empty, mix and refill compost bins Around the gardenPlant out tender summer-bedding plantsLook out for aphids

flyMealybugsAphids

.virtually anything from tomatoes to honeysuckleearly spring to autumnDealing with other garden pestsWoolly aphidsWhiteflyPear leaf blister miteLeafhopper

May-SeptemberMore pests of herbsAphidsBay leaf suckersFlea beetleRosemary leaf beetle

Up to town today, and while waiting for the number 12 bendy bus, 12-year-old and I examine the trunk of a lime tree overhanging the stop. There's a whole ecosystem in just a few square feet of bark.Most prominent are the white waxy remains of horse

or Kenya.I sowed the delicious variety ‘Purple Tee-Pee’ 15cm apart in large, 60cm pots, filled with recycled compost from earlier sowings and the dregs of various bags that were lying around. The pot was situated on the path of my greenhouse

alarm. It seems to prefer pine aphids and I only found it in London last year, for the first time.The harlequin ladybird is all over south London now, and although I saw lots in 2006, they were fewer and further between in 2007. Oh, and the seven

aphids on my pyracanthas, which are dealt with by a strong jet of water, and stripy mullein caterpillars on verbascum, which are easy to pick off.I mention all this because I came across a very ancient shed the other day with many of the original