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Ask a dozen people for advice about dealing with wildlife in a vegetable garden and you are likely to get a dozen answers. While some opt to exterminate just about any creature bold enough to approach their precious plantations, others take a more compassionate and humane approach. This approach is ruthless with bugs but kinder to our more cuddly friends.

Bugs such as aphids and certain burrowing insects like centipedes can cause a lot of damage to vegetable crops, as can slugs and snails which feed off the leaves. In the case of burrowing insects, there are liquid pesticide products on the market which you can apply to the soil before you plant and which will help keep down these critters. If you use chemicals to control these bugs, such as root maggots, you should remember that you will also kill just about anything else in the soil, including garden worms, which are good for the ground. There are various organic methods of trying to keep the bugs down, but if your plants do get infected then the only thing left is to pull up the roots and burn them. Never compost infected plants or you will only make the problem worse in future.

Aphids may be kept away by planting garlic at various intervals. Aphids detest the smell of garlic and will tend to keep away from your other plants if you plant lots of garlic strategically in your vegetable plot. You can also keep aphids at bay by spraying leaves with lukewarm, soapy water. But you must do this very regularly throughout the growing season, as aphids are very persistent little creatures.

Now to the larger animals which may take a fancy to our vegetables. These can range in size from deer through wild boar (less likely to eat the crops than just destroy the ground) to rabbits, not including moles which do damage from below and birds which attack the fruit from above. If you are growing a crop which may attract rabbits, try to surround the growing beds with a firm metal mesh fencing, which should be at least two feet high. Make sure that it is sunk into the ground a foot or so, too - don't forget that rabbits burrow as well as jumping.

If your predators are deer, you'll need a stronger periphery fence, and you will need it to be around six feet high. Deer are able to jump extraordinary heights, and can make short work of your plants in record time. Although wild boars aren't renowned for their jumping ability, they are incredibly strong and very destructive creatures. A good base to your

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