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 Can you recommend a hedging plant to stop dogs coming into my garden? Our house borders a footpath so we often have four-legged visitors. – C. Caulder, via email.

A Hawthorn is tough and fast-growing and has traditionally been used by farmers are a stock-proof fence, but Rosa rugosa would also do the job. As well as fragrant flowers, it produces attractive oranges hips.

Hold off planting tulips until November to prevent them being affected by fungal diseases.

Q I’ve created a white border in my garden and want to plant daffodils to fit with the scheme. Which varieties would be best? – Audrey Mathieson, Linlithgow.

A Narcissus ‘Thalia’ and N. ’Toto’ would work well in a white theme. Both produce pale and elegant blooms with hardly a hint of yellow.

Keep deadheading dahlias and they will flower until the first heavy frost.

Q Can you recommend some hardy salads for growing in my unheated greenhouse this Autumn? – L. Tait, Edinburgh

A ‘Red Grenoble’ lettuce is very hardy and should crop all winter and kale can be picked as young leaves or grown larger and used in stir fries. Pak choi is a good cold season cropper, but protect it from slugs.

Plant up hanging baskets with winter bedding, including violas and small cyclamen. Tuck miniature daffodil bulbs beneath them for extra colour in early spring.

Q Can you identify the photograph of the caterpillars that I discovered on my leeks? – A. Manson, Kilmarnock.

A This is the larvae of the leek moth. Left to its own devices it will burrow into the stems so pick off any you find.

Split clumps of congested geum, replanting the sections in soil enriched with compost. Water well to settle roots.

Q I’ve grown pumpkins for the first time this year. At what point should I harvest them ?Anna McGill, Fairley.

A Once the stems have turned yellow and the stalks have become soft, lift and place in a warm room to harden the skin. You can then store them somewhere cooler.

Fill bird feeders and keep replenishing in the months ahead to provide and your garden will be filled with bird life all winter.