Dear garden makers, now is the time to plant spring flowering bulbs. Here are some general rules which apply to all bulbs and corms:

• Plant the bulb at a depth twice the size of the bulb

In May this year I began to hear from gardeners in Kingswood, Ashtead and Banstead about the devastation caused to their box hedges and topiary by the box caterpillar. One friend reported that her hedge was alive with caterpillars and she was picking them off in the hundreds.

As Christmas approaches why not put a few garden tools and accessories on your Christmas list?

The right tools make such a difference to the gardening task and in the winter the right clothes also make a big difference.

This summer has had some very hot and dry spells and many gardens began to fade out in July due to lack of rain or the particularly early flowering of many flowers and shrubs. July to September are always a challenge to gardeners – just when you want to enjoy some carefree colour in your garden.

Poppies are some of the most colourful and easy to grow flowers for your garden. Some will multiply and come up year after year with no help from you, others will pop up in places you don’t expect and others can be carefully planted where you want them. 

Several garden makers have asked how to get rid of weeds such as dandelions and Celandinein your lawn. You must use a weed killer especially for lawn weeds or you will kill your lawn!