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To spray, or not to spray? That is indeed the question.A couple of decades ago it was not really a question worth asking: pretty much every gardener killed stuff indiscriminately. Aphids? Aaarghh ... squirt. Mildew? Gothcha … squirt. Worm casts

. They are in desperate need of some good PR. Having spent the last four or five months diligently, but rather secretively, helping the gardener by eating caterpillars, aphids, flies and other insects, now is the time they start making a nuisance of themselves around

. It is not one of those gardener-friendly hoverflies lauded for its voracious aphid-hunting larvae. Instead, its large glutinous maggots chew away at the insides of daffodil bulbs; at best leaving a large open wound in the damaged and weakened bulb, at worst

people outside a hilltop monastery or without the rugged dedication of Chris Beardshaw can manage, I will, instead, give you a list of wishes…...May this be the year that your roses remain untroubled by aphids.May your courgette plants produce exactly

the small golfball-sized embryo nest with its 15-20 cells in a single paper comb. After she has laid her first 15-20 eggs in these, she must forage for caterpillars, flies, aphids and other insects to feed to the grubs that hatch.This is a vulnerable time

surprise guests joining us too.Fighting pests is one theme we'll cover, as many people are hesitant about using pesticides around the garden, particularly on things they're going to eat. One way to combat greenfly and aphids is to encourage beneficial

of aphids in the United States and Europe. It was free to breed and spread over the continents and eventually all it needed to do was hop over the Channel to the UK. So it did.First spotted in Essex, the harlequin is now virtually everywhere, except for more

, Myathropa florea, laying eggs inside the bin. Another one was buzzing about on Sunday, trying to find a way to the waste inside. The larvae of many hoverfly species eat aphids, but not these. The ‘rat tailed maggots’ are happier living in decaying matter

- all of which are rich in nectar, and are particularly attractive to hoverflies and lacewings whose larvae, in turn, eat aphids.Stinging nettles are essential food for the caterpillars of butterflies such as red admirals, tortoiseshells and peacocks