Gardening: A well maintained lawn is like a beautiful carpet | Brian Kidd

Same applies to strawberries. Forty-two plants in a raised bed, this time attacked by crows which pulled off the small fruits. The critters jumped up and down on the nets until they could peck off the fruits. Not stupid are they?

I’ve had similar problems with carrots under micromesh netting supported by plastic water piping with the netting secured by push pins into the wooden edges of the raised bed.

Wonderful carrots, no carrot fly at all, but the other night I weeded the bed and found the weeds were so high they had pushed the net off the bed. Never mind, half the bed has been weeded. Hopefully, because weeding was done in the evening, the carrot fly didn’t go on to the carrots.

Everyone is concerned about blackfly on broad and runner beans. It’s been a bad year for blackfly which goes to show that bitterly cold winters do nothing to kill these pests.

Derris has been withdrawn, one of the safest products to use on edible crops. But there is an alternative, Pyrethrum is safe if used properly late in the evening and is one listed as organic.

I’ve been told I may be breaking the law if I recommend 4oz of soap flakes with 2oz of washing soda, mixed with hot water and then made up to two gallons of spray and applied to the blackfly during the late evening. If this mixture is used to wash a path it’s OK. What a strange country?

Tthe garden is looking fairly good because my friend Kevin cuts the grass once a fortnight.

We now take a bucket with us whenever we go into the garden. As we walk around we find weeds or a plant which needs dead flowers removed. All this goes into a huge compost bin. Don’t forget, one part urine to seven parts water, sprinkled not poured, encourages hundreds of tiny red worms to break down the rubbish into wonderful compost. Don’t put weeds which have seeds in the bin, it’s asking for even more weeds!

There is one disappointment. Last winter was wet and our garden has been invaded by horsetail weed. This looks like baby Christmas trees and is the most invasive perennial weed. It’s a constant battle keeping it under control. Its botanical name is equisetum.

When I was an apprentice my head gardener Ernie Flowers, in charge of Southsea rock gardens, always said: ‘Make sure grass edges look smart and visitors will forgive you if they see a few weeds.’

These words come to mind all the time.

A well-maintained lawn with smart edges is like having a beautiful carpet. So after the lawn is cut, the edges are cut too.

During the last winter, all the grass edges were redefined with a sharp half-moon edging iron. My word, that job transformed the garden.

Now for the next job, what will it be? Plant late Brussels sprouts? Take out the weeds growing between the paving stones? Paths? Concentrate on watering everything which has been planted? Spray the potatoes with Copper Mixture to prevent potato blight?

I will concentrate on the essentials – spray to prevent potato blight and get rid of the weeds which are between the paving stones… I must get the garden bench out of the shed!

THIS WEEK'S TOP TIP

Take 6in-long cuttings of indoor pelargoniums . Leave a pair of leaves and the growing tip and cut below a leaf joint. Insert in sandy cutting medium. Rooting should take place in less than a month. Keep cuttings shaded and moist.