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A selection of this month`s gardening
problems - November 2004
Due to the amount of post I am receiving from
readers, I am choosing for this page mainly those
problems that haven`t been printed before..
Do please keep writing in with your
problems.
* Debra Ryan, I answered your query but your email was returned to
me as undeliverable!
Q: Chris asks:- I am
looking at installing a 15 foot stream in my garden, but I have no
idea where to start. Could you give me any pointers as to design etc.
A: Go to your local library, or
buy yourself a book with garden pool and stream projects. This will
give you an idea of a suitable design and building instructions.
Then ask at your local builders merchant or DIY store about
materials..
You would probably need some professional advice regarding the
plumbing and
electrics.
Q: Angela says:- I am
pretty new to gardening and have grown some blue trailing lobelia
and some red Salvia plants. They are starting to go off a bit now.
Can I save the seeds for next year, and when is the best time to
start them off, and do I need a heated greenhouse, or can I grow
them indoors?
A: You can save seeds of
almost any plant that produces them, but you will often get a poorer
specimen the next year, because the flowers were probably pollinated
randomly by the bees. Buying new each year ensures F1 hybrid seeds,
which produce big healthy uniform plants..
I save seeds from certain flowers for a few years, then find the
flowers are weak with poor colours, and at that stage I go back to
buying new stock.
Back to your salvias and lobelia...
Harvest the seed during a dry spell and store them overwinter, in
paper envelopes kept in a cool dry place..
Start them off next spring, in seed trays on a window sill.. If you
are unsure how to sow them, take a peek at the instructions on the
back of similar seed packets in your local supermarket
Q: Ruth and David want to know: We
have a laurel hedge that we are trying to grow. How long do the
roots grow and can they cause poblems.
A:
I don`t know the answer to your query!
But I have recently moved three smallish (6ft) laurel bushes while
we erected some fencing, and they had fibrous root balls rather than
roots, so I assumed their roots would not be a long-term problem..
Looking around my immediate area too, I can see established laurel
hedges where the pavement has not been distorted by their roots and
also the gardens adjoining the laurels have flowers and shrubs
growing quite happily, which indicates the laurels are not sapping
the goodness and moisture from the soil, and therefore probably have
compact root systems.
Laurels make splendid, dense, evergreen hedges that are easy to
maintain.
Q: From Celia:
I see that you use and recommend the services of
www.greenthumb.co.uk .
I have e-mailed my local franchise of the business and asked them to
make contact with me, so I am awaiting their response. Can I ask you
if you found their services to be reasonably priced? My front lawn
is about 25 feet by 25 feet and my back garden is about 80 feet by
40 feet. The grass is becoming infested with clover, viola and
yarrow and I need it sorted
A: When I reckoned up
the annual cost of weed killer and fertiliser for my lawn, which is
about half an acre in size, I thought the treatments at ?40 per time
were reasonably priced. Each year I would also spend approximately
five whole days in lawn maintenance, apart from the actual mowing.
Now I spend 30 minutes a week mowing it with my tractor - it`s
wonderful!
The Greenthumb guys
are so efficient and polite, and I would say go for it, they`re very
reasonable and worth every penny. There is no contract to sign, just
tell them if you want to stop the treatment at any time.
Q: Mrs M.B.Halls asks: I
have had to take premature retirement and my partner has got me a
greenhouse to try to stop my boredom. I would like to sow seeds so
that we can have colour in our garden all year round. The problem is
I have no idea when to start seeds off and when they would become
ready to take from the greenhouse and plant out into the garden.
I.E. When would I start off sowing petunia seeds so they grow into
plants to plant out in spring etc? Is it too late for me to start
sowing pansy seeds now so they will be ready to plant out when all
our summer bedding plants are ready to take out? I would be grateful
for any information you could forward me about the sowing of seeds
etc.
A: If you are a novice gardener
it would be wise to get a couple of gardening books from the library
to learn the basics of caring for plants and soil etc.
You will find the cultural requirements and growing instructions on
the back of all seed packets, which is very useful as different
types of seed usually need different care.
If you are in the UK, pansy seed is usually sown in the spring or
early summer, so it might be worthwhile to buy some ready grown
plants for this winter.
Petunias will be sown about next March, ready to put in the garden
at the end of May, after the danger of frost is past. It might be
wise to spend this autumn and winter learning the basics so you will
be prepared for next spring..
Have a look at
www.thompson-morgan.com seed specialists, whose
website is a mine of information. You can request a seed catalogue
which makes lovely reading on a cold winter`s day. Good luck with
your new hobby, it`s addictive.
Q: Jacqueline asks: How
old does a wisteria need to be before it flowers? Ours is at least 4
years old, grows well and gets bigger every year, but never flowers.
It grows up the supporting rails of a front porch on a west facing
wall. Can you please tell me why you think it hasn't flowered. I
also have a large
Grass with glossy dark green leaves and seed heads in summer. It had
got very large and untidy so I cut it back to about one foot high.
Have I done the wrong thing and will it grow again?
A: I suspect that your Wisteria
was a cutting rather than a grafted plant. You
can buy grafted wisteria that will flower when very young and
wisteria grown
from cuttings which will flower eventually, but it could take a few
years.
Your grass will be fine and will re-grow. You can also dig up the
clump and
replant just a portion of it, which will give it a new lease of
life.
Q: Clinton asks:
I have a red cordyline which has been in the ground for 6 years here
in London, UK. Now it's about 7 feet tall, the trunk at the bottom
half is 10 inches circumference, narrowing to 7 inches in the centre
to 5 inches at the top and it flowered for the first time this
summer. It seems healthy though the head is not as full as it used
to be.
Vigorously growing rather too close to the cordyline is my
trachicarpus fortunei and so i would like to move the cordyline and
transfer it to a rather large pot.
Do you think this is possible without killing the cordyline? How
much root must I transfer over, what size pot, what time of year and
what other things must I consider to give the tree a good chance of
survival?
A: I have put some advice for
you below, but it is quite a big plant to move, so be prepared for
it not to survive the trauma.
If you were transferring it from a pot to the ground it would
definitely be OK, but you will be transferring it from a position
where the roots have spread freely to a confined place.. You will
certainly lose a lot of root when you lift it, as they like to
spread out..
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Wait until the Spring when new growth starts.
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Water it thoroughly before digging it up.
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Get as much of the root as possible
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Re-pot it in the biggest tub you can get, and put a layer of gravel
in first.
Keep it well watered (not waterlogged) until it is established and
growing once more.
-
Let it spend next summer in a cool place.
Previous editions of your gardening
queries:
Please
e-mail me with your garden problems, comments,
or ideas for this section of laterlife.
Click here for previous
editions of Gardener`s
Diary..
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