Looking for the perfect gift for the garden lover in your life?

This Mother's Day, save 25% on an RHS gift membership and swap the usual bunch of flowers

for a year of blooming moments at our 5 RHS gardens and 240 partner gardens, plus so much more.

Save 25% at rHS.org.uk. Hurry. Hurry. Offer end 16th of March, terms and

conditions apply. Despite coming in second, in 2021 UGov pole of the UK's most disliked insects,

wasps are some of the unsung heroes of our gardens.

Say wasp, and you might picture the bold yellow and black stripes of Vesbular vulgaris, the common

wasp, hovering a little too close to your summer jam. But that's just one small part of the story

of the wasp. In the UK, there are a staggering 9,000 species of wasp, and the vast majority live solitary lives often below the detection of us gardeners.

Around 2.5,000 are pollinators, many with specific tastes, visiting just one or two kinds of plants.

Some are skilled hunters, patrolling our borders for caterpillars and

aphids. Without wasps, our gardens wouldn't just be quieter. They'd be far more overrun.

This week, we're taking a closer look at these extraordinary but often misunderstood insects.

Horticulturalist Benny Hawkesby joins us from the rose beds, where pruning is in full swing.

He explains why roses are more than just a beautiful centrepiece and how a small tweak to the

traditional pruning method can create space for these important aphid eaters, while still

keeping your plants flourishing. We'll also hear from

RHS Garden Wisley's Liz Mooney, whose love of homegrown fruit and veg led her to make a bold

environmental commitment to become completely self-sufficient in fresh produce. We catch up with her

to explore the philosophy behind her journey and the practical tips that have made it possible.

And finally, we'll be finding out about one of the garden staples, which has not only been offering your garden wildlife some shelter,

but has been supplying some much needed structure and winter interest to your borders, the ornamental grasses.

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