Search - Articles

they grew in around 10-15cm (4-6in) apart, with the same distance between each row.Encourage the plants to grow up the supports by gently twining them around the sticks. You may even need to gently tie them to the supports initially so they don't flop over

terracotta pots with polythene to reduce evaporation from the sides of the pot.Mulch soil around plants with straw or bark to prevent evaporation of water from the soil's surface. This will also ward off slugs and prevent weeds from growing, which compete

around your garden grazing on aphids and slugs. If you let full-sized hens into your borders then they will kick soil all over the shop and peck large holes in the emerging shoots of your most precious plants. Bantams are less destructive, but if the main

"So what are these things on my lavender?" said the complete stranger, plonking down a jam jar full of beetles on the table. Ordinarily I would have been pleased, but slightly surprised, to be accosted like this, but Saturday 17th May was open

; slugs I thought, but maybe not.Wireworms are the tough cylindrical orange-brown larvae of click beetles. The agricultural ones, several Agriotes species, live in the soil layer feeding on roots and tubers, which of course, brings them into conflict

noticed they were paying particular attention to a couple of victims of the 12-year-old's sleep-over party at the weekend. Two dead slugs, seemingly crushed under the tent were being carefully examined by at least four wasps when I cleared up on Sunday

of worms, slugs and beetles. But it’s too small, which is bad enough in summer, but with all the freezing temperatures of late the composting process has come to a complete standstill. Compost heaps break down quicker in summer because the bacteria involved

I've had a great gardening year. It's hard to imagine my garden now as it was a year ago - a building site, with a huge pile of sand at one end and 200 paving stones and builders' rubble at the other. Then there was an awful lot of mud as we

there was also a grass snake, enjoying the newts in a rather more biological way.To a 10-year-old the great crested newts seemed like miniature dinosaurs and, quite literally, a handful. I kept them in my bedroom, in an old fish-tank half full of water and rocks

20 seconds worrying what the neighbours would think, and then relaxed, happy with our new arrival.My bumblebees (RIP) were rescued from friends who were landscaping their garden; some of my frogs were rescued from a kitchen drain and the rest I picked