General Gardening Discussion

I have quite a large L-shaped pergola that was smothered in rambling roses. I had landscaping works done 3 years ago which sadly meant the roses had to go. The roses I had were - Frances E. Lester - felicite et perpetue and another that I can't remember.The roses I'm considering now are- The...

It was 5 or 6 degrees warmer here in summer, then it goes 5 or 6 degrees colder.Whoops, thread title corrected.

Thank you for the tips Silu. I was in such haste because i'm away in Sweden this week, so thought i'd move them before i went. Okay, i will give it a go and fingers crossed. I will let you know.

Thanks, you've all given me some great ideas and encouragement. I'll keep you updated as we make a start on the project, and no doubt will be needing some tips with pond planting too

It might have been the fairies

In my opinion the Choisya could be dying. Having grown many of these in the past 20 years or so, I have noticed the demise of some that look just like the pictured one there I really hope I am wrong. The ones I have lost recently were not all in the past few months - rather over the space...

Our local glady expert grew on heavy clay. They would be left in the ground over 2 winters, and flower for 3 summers before they deteriorated to such an extent that would require a fresh planting. Each spring he would rotorvate the area with 3 year old corms and replant thickly with new corms....

I now have 5 hogs about the garden they must like us here

Very useful. A quick read of that suggests....I'm doing everything wrong! Expecting a new(ish) plant to bloom voraciously? Check! Feeding regularly with nitrogen? Check!! Not planting in full sun? Check!!!I think I'll move it this autumn, and then stop being so kind to it next year!Thanks.

SteveB. Welcome Ivy is a survivor. Agree the summer drought is the cause. Ivy is relatively surface rooting so will not have coped well.However, I would be surprised if it has died. With some moisture over the next few weeks it will probably recover well

Absolutely - I have greatly appreciated all responses so far. And they have helped me to approach this question in new ways. I am slowly starting to come to some conclusions about it and am trying to do so via as many sources as possible.

No room for extras @Scrungee - unfortunately we have a small garden and the dozen or so sunflowers that I have this year is about as many as the space will take, without removing other plants, which I don't want to do.Thanks for the tip about cutting - just the kind of advice I was looking...

Have a look at the stems of the plants with brown leaves. If they're marked with black then it's serious and you should destroy it.What you have I'm seeing right now all over SW England and in Holland and Belgium too. I believe it's a because the plant has been weakened by Box Caterpillar...

Excellent, thank you

To answer that question:- no, they are most definitely not a repellent .They actually attract the slugs to them and they kill the when eaten. You use them sparingly so as not to be mobbed by slugs. Sprinkle them sparingly and that way they only attract them as they approach the plants. ...

If at first you don`t succeed - keep on trying Rob. You will be able to ask some knowledgeable (if slightly nutty) people here along the way. We are really pleased you have joined the forum and there will always be someone here to ask We all have to start somewhere - and none of us can...

Burncoose is quite near to me WO but I usually go elsewhere...online is good. Garden centres and nurseries often start their reduced prices about nowGrit is important to the compost though for Cneorum. John innes on its own would be a bit too cloggy so a min of 20% grit, pref more, will do...

Thanks Verdun, I probably have overwatered it which won't have helped! When would you suggest to do the light prune and roughly taking how much off?

I use a handsaw (kept for the purpose) for such plants. It has the advantage of not unduly damaging main rootball.