How do I deal with insects indoors and out in summer?
Excluding rather than killing, the specific answer for each of the common summer insects, and when it becomes a job for someone else.
beginner45 min4 min read
Pests & Problems
Diagnosing what's eating, wilting or spotting your plants.
102 guides in Garden
How do I get rid of silverfish?
Why they are a damp signal rather than a hygiene one, and why drying the room out ends it when spraying does not.
beginner45 min4 min readWhy are my plant leaves turning yellow?
Reading the pattern of yellowing to tell watering problems from feeding problems from disease.
beginner15 min2 min readHow do I deal with garden pests?
Identifying the common garden pests, deciding whether they matter, and the controls that work without wrecking everything else.
beginner1 hr2 min readHow do I deal with weeds without chemicals?
The methods that work by weed type, and why timing matters more than effort.
beginner45 min2 min readHow do I help a plant recover from heat stress?
What heat stress actually does to a plant, how to tell it from drought and from root damage, and why the correct treatment for most of it is patience rather than intervention.
beginner20 min7 min readHow do I work out what's wrong with my plant?
A diagnostic method for sick plants — what yellowing, wilting, spots and holes each tend to mean, and what to check first.
beginner30 min2 min readHow do I get rid of bindweed?
Why digging spreads it, the cane technique that targets treatment, and the persistence it genuinely requires.
beginner1 hr3 min readWhat are the spots on my rose leaves?
Telling black spot, rust and powdery mildew apart from the marks they make and where they appear, and the cultural changes that actually reduce all three.
beginner20 min5 min readWhy are there holes in my plant's leaves, and what made them?
The shape and position of the hole names the culprit — edge or middle, through the leaf or grazed to a window, and what was left behind.
beginner20 min6 min readHow do I get rid of aphids?
Controlling greenfly and blackfly without wiping out the predators that would have done it for you.
beginner20 min2 min readHow do I tell if my plant has root rot, and can I save it?
The sleeve test that settles it in seconds, why overwatering suffocates rather than drowns, and the salvage sequence that works when enough root is left.
intermediate25 min5 min readHow do I stop slugs eating my plants?
Which slug controls actually work, which don't, and how to protect the plants that need it without treating the whole garden.
beginner1 hr3 min readIs this plant worth saving, or should I replace it?
Five tests, in order, that settle whether a sick plant can come back — and the cases where replacing it is the right answer rather than a defeat.
beginner20 min4 min readHow do I deal with vine weevil?
Notched leaves mean adults, sudden collapse means grubs — and the grubs in the compost are what actually kills the plant.
beginner40 min4 min readHow do I stop slugs eating my plants?
What genuinely works against slugs, what does not, and how to protect the vulnerable plants specifically.
beginner45 min2 min readHow do I stop wasps and flies ruining eating outside?
Removing what attracts them, decoys, and why swatting makes it worse.
beginner30 min3 min readWhat do I do about Japanese knotweed on my boundary?
How to identify it properly, why the disposal rules matter more than the killing, what to do when it is coming from next door, and the mortgage and legal implications.
advanced1 hr6 min readWhy is my plant dropping its leaves?
Which leaves fall, how fast, and what happened two weeks ago — the three questions that separate a change of conditions from root damage from normal shedding.
beginner18 min5 min readWhy is there black sooty mould on my plant?
The mould is harmless and the insects above it are the real problem — how to find them, and why treating the black film alone never works.
beginner30 min4 min readHow do I get rid of the little black flies around my houseplants?
Fungus gnats breed in permanently damp compost — the four measures that break the cycle, and why they are a watering symptom rather than an infestation.
beginner15 min4 min readHow do I deal with mildew, black spot and rust?
Identifying the three most common fungal problems, and the airflow and hygiene that prevent all of them.
beginner45 min2 min readHow do I get rid of brambles, ivy and other stubborn weeds?
Cutting back, removing roots and persisting through regrowth — the only approach that works on deep-rooted perennial weeds.
intermediate3 hr3 min readHow do I get rid of houseplant pests?
Identifying the four common indoor pests and treating each, plus the isolation that stops them spreading.
beginner45 min2 min read