During the Sui dynasty in China the great Emperor Yangdi (608-18) felt rather the same about his gardens. He solved the problem by having silk flowers tied to the trees. In the twentieth century Robert Heber Percy, Lord Berner's heir at Farringdon House (where Mitford set the Pursuit of Love) used to plant plastic flowers in the spring meadow when the real flowers weren't up to scratch. This is an excellent solution although it sounds as if you have yet to give your wisteria its winter prune - pruning will tidy the plant and make it flower more abundantly. I'm also keen on scarecrows as both practical and ornamental additions to the garden. the designer Ivan Hicks once made me an erotic female scarecrow with crystal eyes and earrings. I enjoy making elaborate scarecrows with hats, gloves, long dresses (ancient evening dresses) or boiler suits depending on the occasion.

The worms have left mounds of mud all over our lawn making it look patchy - the same thing happened last year and it took ages for it to rehabilitate. Is there anything we can do to stop this ruining our grass? Name and address witheld

Before the EU introduced various bizarre rules affecting garden I would have been able to tell you that adding a sprinkling of sulphur across your lawn will alter the ph and discourage worms, and therefore their casts, appearing. Since I am no longer allowed to suggest this method I am at a loss.

During the summer a very healthy lovage plant in my herb garden had grown to waist high. By the autumn it was starting to disappear, a few inches at a time. By early December nothing at all survived above ground - not even any leaf or stem litter to suggest that it had just died back or had been attacked by insects. My garden is frequently visited by foxes, squirrels and neighbours' cats. Are any of these the culprits and will the surviving roots grow back, or should I start again from seed? Eric Norton, London

All is well - this is normal for a perennial like loveage. Next season it should reappear without any problems.

I planted some paperwhite narcissi in a bowl for Christmas but their leaves a withered with black ends. They have not been subjected to extremes of temperature. Tony Shine, Worthing

This is likely to be narcissi smoulder. Not a lot you can do about it except cut out and destroy the affected leaves and make sure you don't plant out the bulbs after they've flowered.

Vine weevil beetles are wandering about my conservatory and house. I've killed several but they keep on coming. Is this normal and how can I kill them all? Jonathan Martin, Deal

Are you certain they are vine weevils? It's not unheard of for them to be up and about now but several other beetles look like vine weevils. Either way keep killing the beetles as you see them and add a drench or slow-release granules of imidacloprid to the compost of all you plants to protect them from the dreaded grubs which do far more damage than the beetles. Its the grubs that kill plants as I'm sure you're aware.

Last year when we sowed peas they vanished even though we'd hung lots of old CDs to keep the birds at bay. Was it slugs? We were going to sow alternative vegetables this year but we like fresh peas and so if you have any suggestions about what could have been the problem we'd be grateful. Mr and Mrs Harrison, Purley

I bet the mice took your peas. I usually sow peas and beans in thin tubes of soil-filled newspaper. I plant them out when the shoot is about 10 cm high which prevents the mouse problem. Make the tubes by wrapping sheets of newspaper around the end of a broom handle, fold the final 5 cm and then add the soil and pea/bean. Put them into a seed tray and water them. This method gives the long pea/bean roots plenty of room to grow.

Is there any way I can prevent my cut tulips from making such long stems which twist around? Mel Samuels, Hampstead

Putting them in full light will help or you could simply have all your tulips planted in pretty containers rather than cutting them and bringing them indoors. All the same I rather like the way they change and move all the time.

My daughter's new garden is thick, heavy clay. The aspect is fairly open although the main beds seem to be very wet. Suggestions please. Mavis Dawkin, Gerrards Cross

Box, weigela, viburnum, anemone blanda, aconites, foxglove, hawthorn, alder, willow, spirea, forsythia, monarda, polemonium and chaenomeles should all do well. And how about trying gunnera for an exotic extra?

Send your gardening questions to Jane Owen