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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

. It may be cheating Nature but it extends the life of your plants and gives you handfuls of herbs to enjoy.HerbsSecateurs or scissorsIce-cube traysMarch - August (or whenever herbs have usable foliage)10 minutes Chives grow quickly in spring and summer

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

bag. After a few weeks, when the cuttings are growing strongly, pot each one up individually to grow on.AdamOther plants to take softwood cuttings from include potentilla, hydrangea, forsythia, philadelphus and fatsia.Uncover the cuttings every few

. 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

and would almost certainly treat any of our ants (No.4=) as cocktail snacks.We are unlikely to stumble across the giant Palouse earthworm. Though harmless - and endangered - it can grow to be about a metre long which is enough to give anyone a bit of a shock

, 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