General Gardening Discussion

Rubber bands! Why didn't I think of that?!

If leaving seeds in a plastic container in a polytunnel, place it somewhere innacessible to mice or inside a metal tin.

FC ....You could try electrical/appliance shops, they tend to have bits and pieces laying around after unboxing display items.

As to Cannas, I've always cut them back once dry, again its down to overwintering on quite cool conditions, if you keep them warm enough to grow then maybe the unflowered stems from last year might flower this year.

Use a cheap pasting brush - fast coverage and plenty of paint (or whatever you're using); I usually use creocote dark. I only really hear people complaining about sprayers clagging up but never actually used one myself.

bought Californian Lilac and Choisya (Mexican orange blossom) from the fragrant list.. Oh My! what an intoxicating smell!

Frost won't bother your onion sets.We've had frost each morning for the last five days, but the sun has got rid of it pretty quickly.

I think mine had been ironed-on!!!!! Val

Mmmm. Don't think I'd fancy the job of cutting the grass next to that fence. Which does pose the question of how birds would be affected. Any kind of large mirror outside can be quite lethal to birds, as they don't always recognise it as a solid object and will sometimes attempt to fly...

What I've done so far is laid loads of bricks in it, sort of to make a brick floor. I've not cemented them in or anything, as my plan is to be able to just lift them back out if I need to. I've left two large squares without bricks, where currently the two fatsias are planted.I did it this way...

Harry, don't forget to take photos of you in action and then progress photos

looks a bargain now

Well, I opted out of both the Howea and the Dracaena and went for this below.....a Calathea! It's been standing next to the radiator for almost a month and is showing no sign of distress, so for the time being it seems happy. The underside of the leaves are purple and they have a velvety feel...

Car boot sales FC! Make yourself some extra pennies.

I've also had mail order plants from Holland, which were excellent. I don't know about restrictions on bringing them back with you from abroad though, I suspect you might get into difficulties travelling with them through airports.

Thanks everyone, we made handprint flowers with them last year. I've possibly left it a little late to plant a flower in a pot now. Is there any flowers which would grow quicker than others?

I've got these, the middle I know is box, not sure what the one either side of it is but it's evergreen. I really want to cut it back as it's starting to block the window. Am I ok to cut it back, as it will obviously make it look very bare, would it not cause permanent damage?

That looks nice, thanks - hadn't seen that before.

I've had it bad. Should be mild in Cardiff today 14. So taking my sick bowl out and directing the troops in a tidy up. Not that they need much direction!

I agree. The Vanda was very dramatic - but a drama queen to look after!Plus some of my Cymbidiums were reduced from something around the 30-quid mark to £3 simply because they had finished flowering and it will be a year before they flower again.