This week in the garden

Sow seeds of colourful, unusual cut-and-come-again salad leaves such as the crimson-leaved Amaranthus tricolour, Kale “Red Russian” and the multicoloured Chard “Bright Lights” to give you a summer salad that looks as beautiful as it tastes.

Make sure that container-grown plants are well watered. If you have to leave them untended for a few days, then place a saucer of water underneath the pot to prevent it from drying out.

Indoors, sow seeds of tender vegetables such as courgettes, cucumbers, squash, pumpkins and French beans, to transplant outdoors after the last frosts.

Defend young and emerging plants from slugs by drowning the latter in beer traps, slicing them with secateurs or even impaling them with a knitting needle and then dunking them in boiling water. Nematodes (try Nemaslug from mrmiddleton.com) or environmentally acceptable iron-based slug pellets (try Ferramol, from fruithillfarm.com) will also control slugs, but not snails. With the latter, crush them underfoot – grisly but effective.

Sow seed of annuals such as pot marigolds, nasturtiums, Ammi majus and annual clary (Salvia viridis). Not only will they give a welcome zing of colour in late summer/early autumn but they’ll also attract bees, butterflies and other pollinating insects to your garden.