Controlling pests the natural way

Chemical pesticides have steadily disappeared from garden centre shelves in recent years amid concerns over safety. But within your own garden, you’ll find a ready-made armoury to help defend your plants.

Many wild plants rely on natural chemicals they produce themselves to repel attackers, and they’re as effective as anything you could buy. A few minutes at your kitchen chopping board and you can extract these plant-made defences to make an organic spray that won’t damage the environment and costs practically nothing. The only extra you’ll need is horticultural soft soap (ladybirdplantcare.co.uk) or Castile soap to help it stick. Don’t use hand soap as it’s full of unwanted additives.

Here, we’re sharing our favourite recipes as well as ways to tackle weeds without chemicals