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with the hose.roses, dahlias, fuchsias, lavender, rosemary and many garden plantsspring, summer, autumnMore common garden pestsCapsid bugsEuonymous scalePhormium mealybugScale insects

green beetles and their and fat, black grubs.Mint is a prolific plant, so there's no need to control the beetles. If you're worried, you could try growing pennyroyal, Mentha pulegium as a sacrificial crop, or simply remove beetles and larvae by hand

to where it joins the clump. Avoid the oldest leaves as these tend to be tough.Cutting rosemary for culinary use will prevent the plant from becoming woody. Use secateurs to trim 10cm - 15cm from each shoot, as required. Avoid cutting back into woody

leaves and cut the stem just below the leaf node: the point on the stem where leaves emerge.Remove the growing tip on the stem.Fill the seed tray with the compost-perlite mix, make a hole in it and insert the cutting, firming around it with a dibber. Take

when the plants are less likely to wilt, and pot them up as soon as you can, keeping them out of strong sunlight.PinksCuttings compostGardeners' knifeSecateursSmall potsJune20 minutesSnip 10cm lengths from the tops of healthy, non-flowering shoots

. Take care not to disturb the beetles before an application, or they'll jump out of harm's way.brassica seedlings, nasturtiums, alyssum, anemone, stocks, cleome, godetiaspring, summerMore common garden pestsLily beetleRosemary leaf beetleCapsid bugsLeatherjackets

Pollen beetleFlea beetleRosemary leaf beetleWoolly aphids

taste delicious and are much loved by Jekka's dog, and her extensive collection of myrtles. It is always fascinating to visit a proper growing nursery where you can see the plants at every stage, from little baby seedlings to the larger plants

pests out there which we, in Britain, will never have to deal with in our gardens.For example in Trinidad there is a large ant (about 1cm long) called a bachak that will (along with a few hundred friends) quickly demolish a garden. They even eat onions

, coriander, mint, thyme and rosemary.Then there are nasturtiums - vibrant, colourful blooms produced in profusion by these easy-to-grow hardy annuals. They have a warming, peppery flavour, not unlike watercress. Which is hardly surprising when you realise