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Lilies are bursting into elegant and colourful blooms at this time of year . It's a dramatic sight, and one you can prolong by simply removing the flowers as they fade.Lily plantsSecateursJuly - August10 minutesJuly - AugustTidy up the lily

bulbsLarge potsCompostMarch - April20 minutesJuly - AugustHalf-fill a large pot with compost, add five or six lily bulbs, then cover them with more compost. Keep in a greenhouse or sheltered spot while developing, tying tall varieties to canes

Nesting female bees cut out immediately obvious elliptical shapes from the edges of a leaf to make their cells for laying eggs. Since one female might need 20 or so cells, that's a lot of leaf cutting, particularly when the bee keeps returning

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

knife and dust the wound with fungicide.liliesspring, autumnMore advice on growing liliesDividing day lilies videoRemoving lily beetlesPlanting lily bulbs in a potDeadheading lilies

, planting them 15cm apart in rows, with about 30cm between rowsPlace collars of card or carpet underlay around the stem base of newly transplanted brassicas to keep cabbage root fly awayPick off malformed or withered apples and any showing signs of pest

water. Encourage natural predators, such as thrushes, toads, hedgehogs and ground beetles. Drown them in saucers of milk or beer - bury the saucer with the rim slightly above soil level to prevent ground beetles falling in, too. Place traps in the border

ladybird. The rest are the usual suspects: vine weevils (No.3 on the list), lily beetles (No.9) etc.No matter how depressed we may get with cushion scale (No.4=) or the depredations of berberis sawfly (No.7) there is always a silver lining. There are worse

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

A recent comment to a blog entry got me thinking about vine weevils. I haven't seen many in my garden for a few years. I wonder if this is the result of my zero-tolerance approach. Along with lily beetles, this is about the only creature I