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americana. I hope I countered her worries that they would kill the plant. Although they're now very common in the London area, the rosemary, lavender and sage bushes they eat are so vigorous that I've never seen any serious defoliation. And they

and reuse in our gardens.For example you may discover a single plant that excites you, or an interesting and novel combination of two or three plants growing together - everybody has room for that. It may even be something as mundane as a piece of paving

and an interesting story.The elder has always been considered a magic plant, supposed to ward off evil and provide useful protection from witches - in some parts of the world cutting down an elder may bring the wrath of some evil sprite upon you. If that is the case

My garden - like yours - is looking fantastic at the moment. Plants that were just poking from cold ground a couple of months ago are now enormous and luxuriant. Bees buzz, roses overflow and lawns are lush.Rather than just brag, I thought I

work, so you'd be much better off planting black mulberries, with their big, blowsy leaves and bark the colour of cork. Morus nigra seems to live for a very long time - even after falling over - and many older gardens have ancient specimens. (There is a

Gardeners are relatively undemanding and pretty easy to keep amused. When we're not gardening we like nothing more than visiting other gardens (or nurseries/shows/plant sales etc). And when it's too dark (or perishing cold) to garden we like to read

is so extremely laid back and relaxed.In this garden there isn't much really urgent work that needs to be done. Many plants have done their bit and are just hanging around waiting for the winter; those that are still flowering do so with an admirable air

' worth of detritus sitting in an open shed. Now, some of you may have seen pictures of my garden before and will have realised that there are lots of plants crammed in here. As a result there is a small mountain of stuff that I need to shred.This brings

of Worms outlined the contribution made by worms to the decomposition of vegetable matter (fallen leaves, dead plant material etc) and thus to the fertility of the soil.Darwin kept worms in tanks in his study and spent many hours observing their behavior

everywhere. A few years ago I cleared out the small window boxes of the dead and dying plants that were clearly not doing very well. All I found, instead of roots, were lots of these small (7-8mm) creamy white maggots — vine weevil grubs.The adult weevils