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knows, perhaps salad crops growing in lawns will be next year's big trend at the Chelsea Flower Show. Don't forget you heard it here first.There is a small allotment outside the offices of Gardeners’ World magazine, where there is space for a few of us

. This means that one minute I'm talking to someone from Cornwall, the next minute to someone from Scotland - gardeners from all over the country.There is so much to see and do. I've been talking about growing vegetables on the 'Taste of Greenacre' stage-cum-garden

. Forking the soil over with the hens in the plot is a slow process - one likes to hitch a ride on the fork's tines! But I’m hoping I notice a reduction in the number of garden pests this year. The recent cold weather will have helped kill off a few bugs

by leek moth. More and more gardeners have been asking about this small but potentially devastating pest at recordings of Gardeners’ Question Time, and at talks I have given.The caterpillars of the moth cause horrible, discoloured patches on the leek

I had hoped that the ultra-harsh winter weather would decimate overwintering populations of pests. This would go at least some way towards making up for all the bay trees and mimosas that gardeners lost during the cold spell.The outcome

Growing fruit and vegetables seems to have really caught the public imagination. I do hope this isn't just a fad and really becomes a practical, viable and rewarding way of life for millions of new gardeners.That's one reason why we have launched

to pests and diseases, and (most importantly) much quicker to crop.This is where they become exciting: aubergines are normally quite tricky to grow. They're best raised in a warm greenhouse, and if you sow seed later than March, you’re in danger of losing

or espalier, try MM106 or MM116 rootstock. For larger trees, choose MM111. You can get smaller rootstocks such as MM26 and MM27, but these tend to produce a smaller crop of fruit with greater susceptibility to pests and disease.What are your favourite apple

and cooking crops. Do let us know in the comments section of this blog if there are any harvesting tips you'd like us to cover.Finally, do join me and a host of other experts on the ‘Grow Your Own’ Garden at BBC Gardeners' World Live (15-19 June 2011) for more