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, as with comfrey, is as a plant food. If you soak the crushed nettles in water for about a month, you'll end up with a liquid feed that should be diluted by one part in ten before application. If sprayed on plants it can also prevent fungal disease. Nettles also

and runner beans, dahlias and Philadelphus - all my favourites!With large infestations I resort to my tried and tested weapon of choice - a plant sprayer bottle filled with water and household detergent. The detergent covers the aphids' breathing holes

down gradually by reducing watering in autumn, then overwinter their tubers to replant next spring.Calla lilies have a tongue-twister of a botanical name: Zantedeschia. They grow from dormant tubers (well I think that's what they are). They need a good

are struggling to keep their heads above water. Usually I find a spring dose of nematodes sorts out the worst of the problem and keeps the little blighters at bay while my plants get established. But this year it's not just the little blighters that are wreaking

'm after - and I usually am - then my only option is to buy plants.With at least another two months of enjoyment to come I'll just keep an eye on watering from now on, adding a liquid feed about once a week to keep plants growing strongly. Then I'll brush

in a pot, which will restrict the growth, but be very careful: if it doesn't get enough water the ends of the leaves turn crispy. The formerly delightful foliage will appear to have been dipped in broken biscuits.There are a series of miniaturised fruit

... round shrubs, roses and flowers, along the base of the hedge, around fruit trees and bushes, and over the veg plot. Beans get a good, deep mulch of compost to help conserve soil moisture, too, but it's not just water retention that mulching is good for

:Tulipa 'Ballerina': so many tulips, almost all of them gorgeous, but as I have to choose, I'll plump for this one. Water-ice-orange, a waist like Grace Kelly and the faintest scent of velvet glove.Bupleurum longifolia: the leaves have a slight blue tinge

garden - virtually via the internet - in aid of Water Aid. Well worth a visit and in aid of a very good cause.

creation and management, especially for small garden ponds where even a small amount of leaf fall can foul the water. I'll add that to my feedback to the RSPB.Saturday was a fabulous blazing sunny day in East Dulwich and we made a family day out