Buff your taps, rehang your house

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I haven’t used a single pesticide in five years, and our flowers, fruit, herbs and veg grow in abundance. Left alone, in time a garden’s ecosystem balances out to look after itself, as I’ve proved in our courtyard in London and allotment in Yorkshire. Aphids are food for ladybirds and hoverflies, which are in turn food for small birds. Slugs and snails feed frogs, toads and the amber list song thrush, which smashes snail shells on stones and patios. In smaller spaces, grow slug- resistant plants such as brunnera, as well as flowers like astrantia. Vulnerable veg are best grown away from hedges and walls where slugs and snails hide.