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- David's were all eaten by slugs, while Tamsin's disappeared overnight (probably also eaten by slugs). Despite all the attention I lavished on mine, including extra watering and a weekly nettle feed, just two of the six made it above 2m (2.24m and 2.35m

In the 1950s, the UK was home to some 30 million hedgehogs. Now it's estimated that there are just one million, according to a recent report published by the People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES). It’s not known exactly why hedgehogs

.Wooden wine crate1.2m length of 15cm x 2cm untreated timber25mm galvanised nails1m length of hosepipeJig saw, drill and hammer25mm drill bitall year roundA couple of hoursStart by making the tunnel for the hedgehog house. Cut the timber into four 30cm lengths

and drawn. 3 strawberry plants (pot-grown or lifted from the garden)Large pot or hanging basketMulti-purpose compostJanuary - April20 minutes harvest May - JunePlant two or three strawberry plants in a hanging basket or large pot of multi-purpose compost

As soon as your strawberry plants have finished fruiting it's time to clear away all the straw or matting to discourage slugs and snails from nibbling at the plants. It's also a good time to raise some new plants from their abundant runners

Keeping garden pests at bayAphidsSlugsMealybugsEarwigs

of the plant, it turns yellowish-brown and becomes a slimy rot.Promptly remove any infected parts of the lettuce. Try to reduce the risk of damage to lettuce leaves by drowning slugs and snails in beer traps, or go on a night-time patrol and remove them by hand

for something easier to grow like courgettes. I think it's a combination of cooler temperatures slowing down germination and the wet weather increasing slug and snail populations beyond belief - certainly around the misty damp hills of Bath anyhow! I wonder

water and frozen too as it takes a good while for me to eat a season's corn. Paul doesn't like sweet corn - or so he informed me after we grew an enormous bed of it the year before last! This year we only grew half a bed so about 10 plants and that seems

on the go but, what with the slug wars of the summer, I clean forgot to sow any! Fortunately good old catalogue mail order has come to the rescue and a dozen cabbage plants arrived through the post the other day. They look a bit peaky but that's down to them