My housemates and I are going to attempt an indoor herb garden. London living means we don't actually have any outdoor space but we do have big, beautiful sash windows so in my mind i'd love to create something like this. However, I think the reality will be a little less spectacular.

Hi I would put a planted green screen of a nice flowering hedge which also has berries in the winter like Berberis. It will give you privacy and its not totally solid as a fence or wall would be and will give a much softer look. It also gives security as it has small prickly barbs You say your window sills are too narrow to take window boxes so why not put a nice long wrought iron planter under the full width of the window, attach to the wall, (It looks like the windows are quite low) or if not put a free standing planter under the window. I would not get rid of the front lawn and just have concrete slabs as you already have all the drive paved, it will just look like to much concrete and harsh unless you add some plants or create maybe a circular flower bed Too much concrete prevents good drainage too Adding a porch would be a great idea, perhaps just glass which will give a modern contemporary feel Also once you have changed that paint colour it will look a lot better

I've got about 14 different varieties of acers in various sizes and ages and I've never had any caterpillars in over 15 years. However, we had sawfly caterpillars on our Soloman Seal plants this year, which we've never had before, and also I found something similar to what you have on a bay tree this year - never had anything like it before. I just cut off the affected leaves and it seems to still be clear of them. The good thing is that it is nearly autumn and the acers will be dropping the leaves soon, so if you do cut off, it won't cause too much of a problem. And the leaves will just reappear next year as though nothing had happened. For future infestations, I always use Roseclear for all manner of bugs - chiefly because I grow a lot of roses and I always have it on hand. Your caterpillars were obviously laid as eggs at some point, so next year it may be worth, just keeping an eye open for any eggs on the underside of the leaves and treat/spray them immediately. The one consolation about caterpillars is that they're easy to deal with - you can just pick them off - and although they're a nuisance, providing they haven't done massive, overwhelming damage to the plant, the plant usually recovers well and will be fine. As for the "drying up", acer leaves are prone to sun scorch and can get quite damaged by the sun, so I keep all of mine in dappled shade/light shade all the time which they prefer. The red leaved ones appear to suffer worst. But again providing not too much of the plant is damaged, it should recover well, often growing new leaves if it's earlier enough in the season. A few other tips:- during the summer, our acers are watered once a day, the key for acers in pots is regular watering and occasional feeding. I cover my smaller acers with fleece over winter, from the first frosts and then removing it in about March/April. You may also need to look at re-potting yours into a slightly bigger pot in a couple of years as the current one is very narrow at the bottom. If you do re-pot it, mix in some ericaceous compost with normal compost as they like the soil a little on the acidic side.

I think you may find that the recent very hot sun we've had, will have been enough to scorch and frazzle (as Sonia says) the new budding leaves. Often if that is the case, this early in the year it may grow more. While not the ideal time to prune, I did some of my little ones in about July/August last year, just to regularise the shape and cut back any bits that were getting too long. It may be worth giving it a bit of a trim before the winter - late summer, when it still has time to heal the cuts. In the winter, perhaps you could look at pruning it harder to try to make it less "leggy" and spindly. I think it will benefit from topping up the soil in that pot. They prefer a slightly more ericaceous soil, so if you can get hold of some of that compost - you can buy it in bags at the garden centre, you'll be helping it out. I would also buy some Acer food. It may well have been struggling for both nutrition and water where it was. Acers like frequent, controlled watering rather than a big soaking irregularly. It should be borne in mind that they are little trees, rather than shrubs, so need more water than a similarly sized shrub. To help with water loss, I cover the top of the soil in my pots with grit, this stops the soil drying out too quickly, but it also helps to stop weeds getting a hold. Going forward, as a tip, I always try to fleece my larger acers in the winter. Although they are quite hardy, it just helps to avoid frost damage to the very new leaf buds in early April. One final thing, when the leaves are starting to come out, but aren't yet open, I find it's very easy to knock them off if you catch them walking by, so try to avoid brushing up against them in early/mid April, until the leaves fully unfurl. So you also have to bear that in mind when removing the fleece in the spring. If you keep it shaded and it's fed and watered, you'll probably find it'll start to perk up in few weeks.