It sells £70 trowels and £3,000 trees – and with A-listers suddenly flocking to the Cotswolds, some of the most famous people on earth have been seen there

Name: Burford Garden Company.

Age: 49.

Tiny insects called thrips feed on the leaves, weakening the plant. Here’s how to discourage them

What’s the problem?
My peace lily has recently developed silver and grey streaks on its leaves. It hasn’t been moved and there haven’t been any changes to its routine – it gets watered and misted once or twice a week. Any advice?

Diagnosis
Silver or grey streaks on peace lily leaves often signify thrips. These are tiny slender insects that feed by scraping the surface of leaves and sucking out the sap, leaving behind a silvery sheen or streaking. They enjoy warm, dry conditions, and can go unnoticed until damage becomes obvious.

Radishes aren’t just for salads – grow winter varieties to enjoy in soups and stir fries

Winter radishes are notably different from the smaller, brighter and often punchier ones you can grow from spring onwards. Winter radishes are left to grow for longer, so they can become larger, and while they can be eaten raw, there are many recipes for cooking them in soups and stir-fries, or roasting them like other root vegetables.

The first winter radish I ever encountered was the ‘Black Spanish Round’ (Raphanus sativus). This heritage variety develops into tennis ball-sized spheres with a rough black skin that conceals bright white, crisp flesh. I didn’t even realise the mooli – or daikon – was a winter radish when I was eating it pickled in a Vietnamese banh mi sandwich or fermented into kimchi. They develop an impressively long, conical root with a mild flavour and pleasingly crunchy texture, and I would grow them if only my heavy clay soil would allow it. The watermelon radish is my personal holy grail. It’s the prettiest radish that I’ve failed to grow despite trying these past few seasons. They’re not much to behold until they’re sliced open to reveal a vibrant fuchsia flesh. I blame end‑of‑summer exhaustion for all the times I’ve tried but haven’t succeeded in growing what ought to be a fairly easy crop.

Guardian-reading neighbours | Pythonesque newspeak | Paper harvest | Express potatoes | Chatbot divorce

Emma Beddington’s observations on neighbours (I don’t believe we’re a nation of neighbours at war – despite what the headlines say, 31 August) are timely and sad. This week, we say goodbye to our lovely neighbours of 19 years. We became friends the day they arrived, in spite of an age difference of some 20 years. Could the key to our friendship be that, in response to a tentative inquiry on that first day, we discovered that we were all Guardian readers? Good luck, Nick and Amy, please stay in touch.
Alistair and Angela Taylor
York

• The examples of newspeak (Letters, 1 September) reminded me of a classic Monty Python example of stringing such verbiage together: “I think all right-thinking people in this country are sick and tired of being told that ordinary, decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not! And I’m sick and tired of being told that I am.”
Phil Coughlin
Houghton-le-Spring, Tyne and Wear

All plants need a little light in their lives, but some can thrive even in the shadiest spots

What’s the problem?
We moved house two years ago, and some rooms in our new home have very little natural light. The plants we brought with us aren’t thriving. What houseplants can cope with low light levels?

Diagnosis
Many popular houseplants, especially those that need bright, indirect light, will struggle in dimly lit spaces. Symptoms like yellowing leaves, leggy growth and overall decline are common when plants aren’t getting enough light to photosynthesise properly. But all is not lost. Several houseplants are far more tolerant of low light and can thrive in shadier spots. The key is selecting species that originate from environments where filtered light is the norm.

‘Honour-based’ violence | Venice film festival | Gardening with newsprint | Christmas tree | Politicians’ phrases

Re your article (Domestic violence screening tool should be replaced, Jess Phillips says, 26 August), can we please not use the word “honour” in the context of violent crimes against female family members, either as part of the Dash questionnaire used by police and social services or in new guidance for a legal definition of “honour-based” abuse. Call it what it is: family violence. The girls and young women mutilated and murdered deserve respect.
Lynne Scrimshaw
London

• I was puzzled by your article (Activists hope to shift Venice film festival focus on to crisis in Gaza, 27 August). Why should the festival have to take a position on Palestine any more than on other tragic problems like Myanmar, Sudan or Tibet? It’s a film festival, not the UN.
John Bowles
Edinburgh

Lay the groundwork by prioritising fences, composting and paving – and worry about the plants later

One of the questions I’m often asked when I speak at events usually comes from someone – perhaps half of a couple – who seems wide-eyed with optimism and overwhelm. “We’ve just moved into a new house and it has this garden,” they’ll begin. They don’t know what to do with it; where should they start?

Invariably, I tell them to ignore the traditional advice of waiting for a year to see what comes up. Granted, you may dig up some ancient bulbs, like these grape hyacinths, but it’s your garden now and these risks are yours to take.

They are scale insects, and you’re going to have to take action if you want to prevent your plant from fading away

What’s the problem?
My rabbit’s foot fern (Davallia fejeensis) has developed small, brown lumps along its stems and is leaving sticky droplets on nearby surfaces.

Diagnosis
These brown bumps are almost certainly scale insects. Often mistaken for part of the plant, the scales look like tiny brown discs attached to stems and leaf joints. They feed by sucking sap, weakening your plant over time. The sticky substance you see is honeydew, their waste product, which can attract mould or ants if left untreated. These pests are slow-moving but persistent, and it’s not uncommon for infestations to spread quietly between plants, as you’ve noticed with your collection.

With a pair of secateurs and some compost, you can quickly and easily replenish your garden for free

When we moved into our home, there was a rosemary plant in the bed by the back door. It hadn’t been pruned for some time, so was all legs with a short, dark green hairdo, and after our first winter it promptly died. Fast-forward to around this time last year, when I was searching for my dog after she’d run off into the woods. As I was stomping around, yelling her name, I chanced upon a luscious, hefty rosemary bush. I carry secateurs on dog walks to clear the paths of wandering brambles, so I snipped off a few sprigs and tucked them in my pocket.

The cuttings I took would be described as semi-hardwood or semi-ripe – woodier at the base, with fresh growth at the top – which are ideal for starting new plants. Now is the time to do this with rosemary as well as sage, lavender, thyme and a host of ornamental shrubs and plants.

In the rainforest the plant develops aerial roots that are vital for its health and perfectly natural. But there is a solution if they look too wild for your living room

What’s the problem?
My philodendron has long, white, string-like growths coming out of the stems. Is my plant OK and can I cut them off?

Diagnosis
These curious structures are known as aerial roots, and are completely natural. Philodendrons originate from tropical rainforests, where they climb trees. These aerial roots help it anchor itself, absorb moisture and draw nutrients directly from the humid air. Indoors, however, they can give the plant a slightly wild appearance.

The easy-going, unfussy aster can still flower long into autumn, puffing up the garden with cloud-like blooms of lilac, white or wizard purple

One of the things that makes gardening so perpetually, addictively interesting to me is how it challenges beliefs I’d previously held about myself – often on an annual basis. Some beliefs are big, others are smaller, such as my dislike of asters.

Ask me in the middle of spring, when everything is new and fresh, and the tulip petals look as if they’ve been streaked with a fan-shaped brush, and I will confidently say I’m not an aster fan. Too fussy, too much lilac, too bushy. But scoot forward six months, and I regret I hadn’t planted a few in the gaps that appear at this time of year.

From planting in odd numbers to painting fences and walls the same colour, here are some easy, effective ways to give your outdoor space a seasonal spruce-up

“It is not always necessary to rip out everything and start again,” says Ella Malt, who runs the gardening company Soil and Soul Norfolk. “It is much more sustainable to work with what you have. You can make such a difference with a bit of cutting back, clearing up leaves, cutting an edge on a lawn. People notice edges: you could spend hours making a herbaceous border perfect but if the edge of that border isn’t crisp, it will automatically look untidy.”

Dust, unsuitable potting or stress can cause your Monstera to lose its gloss. Here’s how to revive it

What’s the problem?
My Swiss cheese plant (Monstera deliciosa) has survived for years, but recently the leaves have become dull and lost their gloss.

Diagnosis
Swiss cheese plants are renowned for their lush, naturally glossy leaves. However, they can lose their sheen because of dust accumulation, unsuitable potting conditions, or stress, often linked to watering habits or inadequate nutrients.

Diggers | No-diggers | Allotment solidarity | Lonnie Donegan | Movable feasts

Toby Wood suggests that Jeremy Corbyn’s new party should be called the Allotment party (Letters, 8 August). More appropriate would be the Diggers, after the radical and egalitarian group that emerged during the English revolution in the 1640s. Its members were rightly identified by Tony Benn as “the first true socialists”.
Lynn Williams
Barry, Vale of Glamorgan

• In view of the commitments that setting up a new party involves, maybe Jeremy Corbyn, come next February, might try the no-dig method on his allotment. It will save time and his back.
Chris Palmer
Doonfoot, Ayrshire

Cutting while the weather’s warm reduces the risk of fungal and bacterial diseases invading

Many fruit trees are pruned in winter when they are dormant, in anticipation of the burst of energy that comes with spring. Yet established stone-fruit trees – plums, cherries, apricots and others in the Prunus family – should be pruned now to prevent them contracting silver leaf disease. Transmitted by spores active in the autumn and winter, and which infect trees through open wounds, this fungal disease can cause leaves to turn silver and lead to whole branches dying back.

Pruning in summer is also prudent given that bacterial canker can find its way into a susceptible tree during the colder months of the year. Any wounds caused by pruning now will have plenty of time to heal before the seasons change.

Allotments | YouTube at primary school | Universities and ‘racist science’ | Millet’s potato fork | Gaza and Hiroshima

“Is this government going to put the nail in the coffin of the joy of digging ground for potatoes on a cold, wet February Sunday afternoon?” Jeremy Corbyn wrote in the Daily Telegraph (Jeremy Corbyn warns rules on council asset sales threaten allotments, 5 August). Never trust a man who can’t tell his parsnips from his potatoes: leaving spuds in the ground till February means they’ll have been spoiled by frost or rot. And I say this as a lifelong Labour voter.
Dariel Francis
Tunbridge Wells, Kent

• A key point not covered in your article (YouTube most popular first TV destination for children, Ofcom finds, 30 July) is the extent to which schools, particularly primaries, use YouTube, from movement breaks to educational programmes and quiet-time cartoons before home time.
Cat Mehta
Weybridge, Surrey

Don’t be overly cautious when watering Rhipsalis – to thrive it needs regular hydration and good drainage

What’s the problem?
My mistletoe cactus (Rhipsalis) thrived for more than five years, but recently started to brown, with strands falling off. I repotted it into a slightly larger pot with no drainage holes and a layer of gravel at the bottom, but it continues to decline despite weekly watering. How can I save my plant?

Diagnosis
Your mistletoe cactus probably isn’t getting sufficient hydration. Cautious watering can lead to soil that is superficially damp but remains dry at a deeper level. This often manifests as browning stems, shrivelling and segments dropping off as the plant becomes stressed due to a lack of moisture at the roots.

Your July favourites hint at one thing: you’re off on holiday

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Reading between the lines of this month’s bestsellers, I spotted a few subtle clues that some of you might be going on holiday. And while I am, of course, stuck in an office, writing you this newsletter, the summer fantasies evoked by this list couldn’t help but bring me a little of that holiday joy.

Whether it’s a cooler backpack for cold drinks on the beach, a super-flattering rainbow swimsuit or a budget head torch to get you back to your tent in the dark, this month’s Filter favourites hint towards a summer well spent. (Just don’t forget to pack the SPF.)

Do eggshells really protect your plants from slugs? And what can you do about moles? Our gardening expert has the answers

As any gardener knows, we share our outdoor spaces with a vast array of creatures. This is mostly a wonderful and necessary thing. The majority of beasts are beneficial and ought to receive the warmest of welcomes. And given the biodiversity crisis, we must reconsider who we regard as a “pest”. Having said that, there are organisms whose presence can imperil our garden plans.

When I was studying the principles of growing food organically, I was taught a systems approach to dealing with so-called pests: choose your interventions carefully and opt for the least disruptive before considering more drastic measures.

Grown in a pot or with plenty of space in a bed, these blade-leafed corms will add hot reds and oranges to your planting schemes

As regular readers of this column may have noticed, I am no taxonomist. I’ve never quite got on board with Latin names, but have gardened long enough to grudgingly accept that they are quite useful. For all that common names can be poetic (love-in-a-mist), intriguing (bladder wrack) or plain entertaining (goat’s beard), they can lack specificity.

I’m not here to get into the weeds of determining whether one naming system is superior, and I use both interchangeably, but it is true that some Latin names have a certain panache. Crocosmia is among them.