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It's been a great year for stone fruit crops, apparently, with commercial cherry growers reporting bumper harvests. We have a couple of cherry trees here, but I've yet to taste a ripe fruit from them – the birds always get there first. I know we

Last year I wrote a blog about cuckoo spit, in which I documented the fauna that had appeared in my garden after I had transformed it from a paved courtyard. I celebrated the arrival of butterflies, birds, froghopper nymphs and moths, but was less

windfalls to collect, so we can make some more juice.I’ll save a few apples for the birds - I’m happy to feed them, but I begrudge the wasps, which hollowed out far too many fruits in this year’s crop.

.Elsewhere gardeners fret over a superabundance of magpies, or sparrowhawks, choosing not to celebrate these wonderful birds’ beauty, poise or cunning, instead blaming them for decimating the local populations of blue tits and goldfinches. Yet further afield deer seem

overwinter in the pot. Cut back the verbascums and the fennel in late winter or early spring (see Adam's tips).AdamDon't be too quick to deadhead the verbascums at the end of the summer, as birds will feast on the seed-heads and the spikes will look dramatic

FlowersFinish planting out veg cropsSow summer salads in guttering to grow quick cropsUse netting to protect developing and ripening fruits from birdsFruit & vegIncrease shading if inside temperatures are getting hotTake cuttings from houseplants Damp down the greenhouse

years of enjoyment. Now is the ideal time to plant trees, so follow our step-by-step guide to giving your tree the best start.Clean out bird boxesLevel out dips in lawns with loam-based compost and oversow with grass seedClear away debris that could

. 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

.Plants are infested with tiny, sap-feeding, scale-like insects packed around the stems and leaves.First try to remove them with your thumbnail. If there are too many, use an insecticidal soap spray. Alternatively, leave them for the birds to pick off. In a greenhouse

easily access buildings•    they carry Weil’s disease, which is potentially fatal to humansI paid close attention to my garden and realised I had to act when I spotted Ratty mopping up split niger seed from the bird feeders in broad daylight