It may seem a bit of a drag but try not to think of staking as a chore, but as something that’s worth putting a bit of time into now to save the pain of trying to resurrect plants that are prone to collapsing in the wind.

Why not go for a natural look?

Peasticks are great, are readily available and last well, as do hazel or birch prunings.

Push the cut ends into the ground around your chosen plant and bend and snap the tops in towards the middle to make a pretty and very effective stake.

You can, of course, use good old bamboo canes around the edge then loop twine around each cane.

For tall single stemmed perennials like delphiniums use a single cane support that will be two thirds of the stems eventual height tying in with twine in a figure of eight as it grows.

Ring stakes and link stakes are available to buy at garden centres for lower, clump forming plants such as peonies; you can raise them as the plant grows.

Keeping pests at bay

I always know when there has been an explosion of pests when I’m out on my bike as I seem to swallow more than my fair share.

Another clue is seeing the farmers out busily spraying the fields in an attempt to keep them at bay.

If you’ve got fruit trees, and don’t have a farmer with a sprayer handy, you can hang up some pheromone traps in the trees to help control moth pests such as codling moth larvae, which eat apples.

Another way to keep pests under control is to introduce some predators such as nematodes. These infect the pests with a fatal disease then feed on the decomposing body.

You buy them in packs, mix with water and water on to affected plants and soil preferably in cool damp conditions.

Predatory and parasitic controls need a little time to multiply before they can get to work so it is best to introduce them before the plants become heavily infested.

However, they can only breed when their prey or host is present so there needs to be some pest activity.