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Sow green manure crops to fill bare soilRemove pond weedsHoe and hand weed bordersFeed plants such as roses, shrubs and hedgesPrepare soil ready for sowing a lawn or laying turf during September and OctoberSend off for mail-order bulb catalogues

Fix nesting boxes for birds to suitable trees around your gardenService petrol lawn mowers and power toolsKeep indoor azaleas well-watered with rainwaterMake fat cakes and hang them among roses to encourage bluetits to feed off overwintering pests

As temperatures rise and summer sets in, give your container plants a little time and care. Water, feed and deadhead them regularly over the next few weeks and you can keep plants flowering and looking good right into autumn.Container plants

Capsid bugs are sap-feeding pests. The 6mm-long adults vary in colour from green to red-brown, depending on the species. Look for the distinctive diamond shape when their wings are folded. When they feed, they release a toxic saliva that kills off

, so they won’t get squashed any more, and give them a good feed. The feed should be reapplied every few weeks, while the leaves are still green. Regular feeding helps the bulbs to build up a store of nutrients for next year, so they’re far more likely

garden waste, worm bins harness the feeding habits of brandling or tiger worms. These fast-moving worms occur naturally in leaf litter and compost bins, and are different from earthworms. They feed on the kitchen waste my family generate, converting

annuals into flower is to be mean and only feed the plants when changing the pot size; this way the plant won't produce too much foliage.For the Herb Farm we have been sowing French parsley. The trick to get a good germination is to sow the seeds

by boiling). They also provide food for the caterpillars of some of our loveliest butterflies, including red admirals, small tortoiseshells, peacocks and the lovely comma . They not only feed butterflies and ladybird larvae, but can also feed us (although

Garden Birdwatch.Birds will only visit gardens where they feel safe. The ideal bird-friendly garden has a mixture of trees and shrubs for birds to shelter in, a lawn from which ground-feeding birds can forage for ants and worms, and a wild, grassy area

shieldbugs. Cyphostethus tristriatus is a crisp emerald green, with a striking orange-pink boomerang mark on each wingcase. It feeds on the young cones, but never enough to do any damage to these most vigorous of trees.It’s sometimes called the juniper