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Monty Don's advice on planting summer cabbagesCombatting cabbage white caterpillarsTackling LeatherjacketsBrowse a variety of vegetable plantsChoose plants by soil type

, the first was earlier this year when I reared one from a larva. They must, in fact, be very common, because the caterpillars are all over the place. These spiky psychedelic toothbrushes are unmistakable, with their four dorsal tufts of bright yellow bristles

and hedges so we have a large population of birds. Blue tits are very beneficial for the gardener as they feed their young on caterpillars.Talking of which, it is very easy to unwittingly overwinter caterpillars in glasshouses and polytunnels. Only the other

and sunned it self on the glossy ivy leaves that cover our south-facing fence. This spring generation develops from caterpillars that fed on ivy, but probably not this clump, since they eat the developing flower buds and we don’t have any here yet. They

When the children first found the caterpillar, they were fascinated and asked me what sort of moth it might turn into. They were amazed when I told them that instead of a moth, it would turn into a sawfly the size of a hornet. Some of the parents

summer cabbagesTackling cabbage white caterpillarsCombatting LeatherjacketsBrowse a selection of hardy perennial plants View plants by suitability to sun exposure

, was a fat, green caterpillar. I've no idea what the caterpillar was; there are so many green caterpillars, and not all of them are the small cabbage white. I grudgingly decided that butterflies and moths are far fewer in number than foxgloves, and a new

and other insects. The display will provide shelter for insects to roost or hibernate, food plants for various caterpillars, and sources of nectar for pollinating insects.We created a scheme of nectar-rich nepeta, lavenders, geranium, polemonium, salvia

!).We've grown the classic round summer cabbage which is moth-eaten or rather caterpillar eaten after the attentions of the cabbage white butterfly babies. Looks terrible but tastes lovely - once you've fought your way through all the ragged outer leaves! All

insects (left). They are ichneumons, parasitoid wasps which lay their eggs inside living caterpillars. The hatching grubs then eat the caterpillars alive from the inside. These specimins had chosen a much damper situation under the bark of a pine log