GARDEN GURU

Q What’s chewing the leaves of my brugmansias?

Frankie Vendittelli A I’m guessing your brugmansias spent last summer outside and were then moved indoors to protect them from frost, bringing some stowaway slugs or snails along with them. Check under leaves, around the base of the plants and even decant the rootballs to see if there’s anything lurking. And scatter a few organic slug pellets on the compost.

Q Last summer my lawn was covered in worm casts. I tried to pick them off before mowing, but it’s not very effective. What can I do?

Marjorie Buckley A The traditional way of dealing with casts is to let them dry and then brush into the surface with a besom, a broom with a head of twigs. Another option is to spray the surface with CastClear, an organic treatment containing sulphur that will keep worms away from the surface for up to 20 days.

Q Can you identify a cactus that I bought on a market stall but was not named?

Terry Purcell A Thanks very much for emailing me the photograph of your new cactus. It has the tongue-twisting botanical name of Austrocyl indropuntia subulata but you may prefer the more palatable common name, Eve’s needle cactus. It’s native to Peruvian Andes and, although it may look compact now, it can grow up to an impressive 13ft in the wild.