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the plants will catch up, but I might not get a harvest until August. My spinach hasn't fared any better - that was eaten by snails.It's not all bad news. My tomatoes and chillies in pots are doing well and the cut-and-come-again lettuce leaves have already

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

.undisturbed ground, under stones, logs and pots. Prefers cool, damp habitats.all year roundMore common garden pestsWaspsMolesSnailsAnts

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

and snails paid them a great deal of attention - a lot more than Lizzy and me - and the cold, damp weather seemed to stop them in their tracks. If you need some tips on growing beans take a look at the rhs website.They just sat there for weeks, getting

to be about right for me and Lizzy.As to other crops, we're madly trying to eat up all the lettuces and salad stuff which has grown fantastically this year, once they grew beyond the reach of the slugs and snails. Paul's sick of the sight of salad leaves

of the cabbage white butterfly caterpillars, cabbage root fly, pigeons, slugs and snails. Maybe it's just as well I've got so many.

abdomen as a mating signal to passing males -far more subtle than the red light! The male, by comparison, is a dull browny-black. The larvae (which, sadly, I've never seen) are a gardener's friend as they feast on snails throughout June and July

as these lovely, helpful insects I've also got a good smattering of the not-so-helpful varieties of wildlife, such as slugs, snails, chafer beetles and assorted aphids.I've also spotted a few cabbage white butterflies hovering around my brassicas. It's hard