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I'm always looking to make my garden more appealing to wildlife, so I've been delighted by the number of peacock butterflies around this summer. My buddleja has put on a superb flower display that's lasted for weeks. If any shrub is going to provide

Learn how to ensure that your buddleja achieves its full flowering potential, in Monty's spring pruning guide.springMore advice on pruningVideo advice on choosing secateurs.Learn effective pruning techniques.Video guide to pruning shrub roses

and buddleja.The caterpillars can destroy plants' foliage in a matter of days and can literally be seen to swell in the process. Luckily, my one cultivated verbascum has so far escaped their attentions, but a buddleja and several of the wild mulleins growing

.apples, pears, quince, walnutsspring, summerMore common garden pestsMullein moth - on verbascum, buddleja and figwort.Elephant hawk moth on fuschia plants.Caterpillars on any plants.Cabbage white caterpillars on brassicas and nasturtiums.

in autumn. Most prominent at the moment are great stands of stiff-limbed and mauve-flowered buddlejas.Buddleja davidii was brought over from China and named after the French naturalist Pere Armand David (the buddleja bit comes from Essex botanist Adam Buddle

and hoverflies are still on the wing, foraging for food. Nectar provides insects with energy to fly and builds them up for winter hibernation. By growing just one source of nectar-rich food, you can improve these insects' chances of surviving the cold months

-summerKeeping other moths at bayCabbage white caterpillars on brassicas and nasturtiums.Codling moth on apples, pears, quince and walnuts.Mullein moth on verbascum, buddleja and figwort.Caterpillars on any plants.

the gardener, but is a desert for insects. So in front of the Bar we laid a strip of wildlife turf, which is enriched with dozens of wildflowers and nine different types of grass. We'll grow it long, then cut it, as we do the wildflower meadow, just twice a