Welcome to my potting shed! This is the column where I’ll share all my gardening hints and tips – and I’ll try to answer any queries you may have.

Q Last week we found a hedgehog in our garden. How can we encourage it to keep visiting? – The Hume family, Balloch.

A Creating gaps under your hedge or fence will allow hedgehogs to roam and if you can persuade your neighbours to do the same you’ll create an access corridor. Then pile up leaves and twigs to create shelter and a bug larder for hungry ‘hogs.

At the first hint of spring, many weeds

will start to germinate so dig these out as soon as you see them to prevent them from reaching full size and setting seed.

Q For my birthday I received a pot of winter flowers and a small, variegated shrub that is spiky but which isn’t holly. – Mrs Jane Doherty, Gourock.

A This sounds like a form of Osmanthus heterophyllus or ‘holly olive’ which produces fragrant white flowers in late summer.

Cutting a fresh edge will make winter lawns look smarter. Use an edging iron or a spade with a sharp blade.

Q I have several stipas that are looking very tatty but I can’t prune them without damaging fresh growth. – Mark Wilson.

A The best way to tidy up stipas and similar grasses is to pull on a pair of gloves and comb your hands through the plant. If you pull gently while you do this, the old foliage will come away, leaving the fresh growth behind.

Add fresh compost and fertiliser around fruit bushes growing in pots and water in.

Q I have a large buddleia that’s out of control. How do I reduce its so it won’t take over the garden? – Peter Simpson, Edinburgh.

A Use a pruning saw to ‘stool’ the buddleia. That means taking it down to almost ground level. Buddleia respond to tough treatment and will throw up flower stems by summer.

Check around cabbages for slugs and other pests, removing any yellow leaves and adding these to the compost heap.

Q I’m planning to grow potatoes for the first time this year. Which variety do you recommend? – Audrey Hill, Carlisle.

A ‘Charlotte’ is a lovely salad potato with a fine flavour and waxy flesh. Buy seed potatoes and chit them now by standing in egg boxes somewhere bright and cool, then plant out when the shoots are 3cm long.

Remove last year’s foliage from oriental hellebores to show off the flowers and prevent the spread of fungal diseases.