Search - Articles

feed on pollen from the open flowers, and hopefully breed and lay eggs. Developing larvae then feed on aphids, acting as a form of natural pest control.When I experimented with the 'square foot vegetable plot' planting technique a couple of years ago, I

all summer long. Support them, feed and water them regularly, remove spent flowers and watch out for signs of pests and diseases. Our five tips, below, will ensure your roses put on a show-stopping display.Deadhead roses regularly, otherwise plants

crops to kill 'pests' dramatically reduces the amount of food available to them.Luckily, there's a lot gardeners can do to help. If you garden for amphibians, birds, bees and butterflies, you will have already created a fantastic bat habitat. You can

is that it arrived with the decorative plantings used around the car parks and ornamental lakes. Although unlikely to become a pest like its 'vine' relative, the beetle is probably well established in Britain. It's known from at least a half-dozen places, usually

Some of you might remember that I wrote about geums a few weeks ago. Sometimes those of you out there are kind enough to respond to my ramblings with comments of your own. They are mostly charming and occasionally include various garden questions

'll reward you through their tireless efforts to hunt and eat your garden pests during spring and summer.Once you've created your nest box, why not follow our advice on installing a nest box camera, which will give you a fascinating insight into the lives

For the last couple weeks I've been on something of a 'grand tour' of South America. Along the way, I've visited many gardens and seen some interesting horticultural practices. This is the first in a series of four blogs, documenting the fascinating

, but the larvae, with their larger than expected size and strange almost caterpillar-like scuttling habit, are more likely to be incorrectly identified. All too often people tell me they have squashed them, believing them to be garden pests, when in fact

? Bittercress lives up to its name. It’s often inadvertently imported on the surface of compost of potted young plants, but I don’t make it welcome. It's a pest, albeit a tasty one.Ground elder was the invasive thug we battled with in my childhood garden, though

Due to the wet weather of the past week, I haven't been out in the garden much. The snails, however, have been very active; I can barely walk to the front gate without the familiar sound of snails crunching underfoot. Most of the plants we grow