Thanks for the responses. Rubbing off the eggs seems to be working. I've only found two clusters of caterpillars and was able to remove the leaves before they did any real damage.

My brassicas are getting little clusters of tiny yellow eggs which I assume are Cabbage White Butterfly eggs. If I rub them off the leaves and they fall on the ground, will they hatch, and if so, will the caterpillers survive on the ground?
Martin.

My neighbour has a well established Yew tree growing next to the wall between our properties. It has been well cut back so it does not shade my ground. Last year I planted a Rhubarb plant just in front of the wall. It seemed to do well but this year it struggled to grow in the Spring and now appears...

What type is it and is it budded onto a dwarfing rootstock? The variety is "Avalon Pride". The rootstock is Montclare. The retailers bumph says that it should have a height of about 6': http://www.thompson-morgan.com/fruit/fruit-trees/stone-fruit-trees/peach-avalon-pride/87129TM

I have a peach tree that I planted a year ago. It has grown very well and is now about 8 feet tall. Can I prune the leading branch at the top of the tree to restrict its growth without damaging it?

Thanks for the comments. I want these beds to last longer than me (20 years or more I hope) so my first thought was to use hardwood (railway sleepers) but I assume that brick beds should last indefinitely. I will be employing a contractor to do the work so it will be cost that makes the final decisi...

What depth foundation would it need for 30cms high, 1 brick deep walls?

Would a brick raised bed 3mtrs x 1mtr and 30cms high be strong enough with one brick deep walls?

Martin.

Thanks for your replies. The concensus seems to be that it will need drainage which was my own thought. I shall buy a very long and thick concrete drill bit and hope that it breaks through the concrete. The previous owners must have kept Great White Sharks in the pond to need such a strong bottom.

In my new property, I have inherited a wooden walled fish pond. I don't want to keep fish and it would make a perfect raised bed for a herb garden. It measures 6 feet by 4 feet and is 3 feet deep. I assumed that it was just lined with a rubber membrane but when I emptied the water and removed the bo...

Why Raised Beds? Off the top of my head ... (1) More productive than open ground (2) Soil improvement (eg lightening clay) is concentrated (3) Facilitates 'Square Foot Gardening' more easily (4) Easier to manage (eg no digging) (5) Easier to control pests (6) Easier access (I'm not getting any young...

Ricard with an H: Thank you for the excellent information. I assume you do not line your softwood raised beds? A lifespan 15 years would do me fine.

And thanks for the tip re Ensele.

Martin.

Thanks for all your comments. I would prefer to stick to wood as I want the area to look attractive as well as productive. I also want to avoid railway sleepers because of the seepage issues. Pa Snip: Based on your experience, if cost was no factor what would you build them from today? Robo: Your co...

I want to install some raised beds in my garden for vegetables. My initial thought was to have them built using hardwood but the contractors I have asked for estimates say that these days they nearly always use treated softwood which, they say, gives a good life expectancy. Treated softwood is signi...

I always plant out young plants surrounded by a plastic collar cut from plastic bottles. In previous years this has been fairly effective against slugs but this year they seem very adept at climbing the collars. Anyone know of a translucent cream or gel that I could smear around the collar that woul...