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.The idea of wide, slightly quilted, deep bluish-green hosta leaves is captivating, but often the reality is completely different. The reality involves slugs and snails, nightly chewing the edges and perforating the centres of the leaves, leaving them

Slug bustersSlugs may have voracious appetites but they're fussy eaters too - and therein lies an answer to a slimy problem. The good news is that there are a selection of plants that slugs, and snails, will steer clear of.Slugs will avoid any

wrote a number of important garden books in the 1930s. The photography is not brilliant, but what struck me is that nothing much changes, they're still much the same plants grown in much the same way.Except that perhaps our slug-catching techniques have

It's hard to believe how quickly plants have grown in my garden over the past few weeks. My hostas are doing particularly well. In April I was considering repotting some of my established and congested pots of newly emerging hostas, but they've now

- 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

. Keep them well watered and ventilate the greenhouse on hot days.As strawberries develop, cut off any long runners that grow as these will divert energy from the crop.Check pot-grown plants carefully as the fruit develops for signs of slug damage. And it

You never quite know what's going to be thrown at you when it comes to weather, but I made a firm decision to plant a plentiful supply of seriously drought-tolerant containers this year. The kids did a lot of the planting and got very enthusiastic

watercress I bought from the supermarket for 75p. I'd like to add more plants, and buy some plants for my mother (her pond is a disgrace, it's full of dead slugs). Marsh marigold (Caltha palustris) is lovely, native to Britain and has beautiful yellow flowers

or raise them in pots indoors to transplant later. Sowing direct is generally the preferred method, as the sunflowers don't suffer a 'check' in growth when transplanted. However the young plants are at risk of being eaten by slugs and birds, so I

, which open to pinky-white flowers in spring.Skimmia japonica 'Rubella'I love this hosta, with its flashes of creamy white on dark-green undulating foliage. Planting hostas in pots helps to protect them from slug and snail attack.Hosta 'Night Before