In the garden this week: Sweetcorn dens, plus squish those bugs

Sweetcorn secrets A sweetcorn den provides a secretive, shady play area for allotment-bound kids and armfuls of sweetcorn. Sow into pots now for planting out when they are big enough, or sow direct into your chosen shape. Choose a sunny spot, not too windy, that has been deeply dug over. If sowing direct, mark out whatever shape you fancy, then sow two or three seeds per station, 45cm apart. When they germinate, remove the weaker seedlings, leaving one per station. Bug squish The squishing of aphids between fingers and thumbs is the job of the moment. They swarm over youthful buds of roses and others, and multiply at an astonishing rate, contorting growth with their sap-sucking ways. Later on, ladybirds, lacewings and other beneficial insects will get their numbers up and keep aphids under control, but for now it's down to you. Pour cold washing-up liquid over affected plants, too; the soap suffocates aphids. Nice.