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protected.Of course there's an answer, and that's what fruit cages were invented for, but when you integrate soft fruits around the garden to make best use of space these aren't a viable solution. Large pieces of netting play a part, thrown over fruit

he was making to form a simple turf seat. Toby and his wife Lisa are regular contributors to BBC Gardeners' World Magazine, and readers will be familiar with many of the inspiring Fresh Ideas and other gardening projects they've developed in the past

'm choosing mine. Of course, I'm keen to make them welcome, and a dense bed of mixed salad leaves provides the perfect summer residence.I know the word 'organic' is batted around a lot nowadays, but possibly not always fully understood. Organic gardening isn

, such as natural pest or disease resistance.The one rule that would be close to the top of my list is to make every effort to sow seeds at the right time. Often that means making time in your busy diary to prepare pots or soil so that you can actually sow the seeds

by something else. And so for me this makes them a perfect choice for planting directly into pots over the coming weeks. They can be grown on in the wings and brought centre stage for their summer performance, and then moved away to make room for something more

're still unsure which to choose, Monty Don is making suggestions for the best-flavoured apples in the November 2011 issue of Gardeners' World Magazine.So, my advice is to search out and taste these varieties before buying a tree. Avoid disappointment

, but the cold always gets to them eventually. No, these plants need to come indoors, so I’ll make space for them on the windowsill in our spare bedroom. The aeoniums, sedums and echeverias will enjoy the full light of this south-facing window, with just

and take down my home-made box. Then it's an easy job - simply remove all the nesting debris and thoroughly sterilise the inside of the box with boiling water. After leaving it to dry out, put it back in position.When buying or making a nest box, make sure

'Gardener's Delight' or any one of my favourite reliable performers instead.The crop looked quite reasonable, as my picture shows, but the fruits really didn't have much flavour. They developed to a pale yellow colour rather than white, which does make

of bypassing your good intentions, making do with what it can find. I remember visiting Cambridge Botanic Garden at about this time a few years ago and watched a multitude of ladybirds (what is the collective noun for ladybirds?) emerging from the winter