General Gardening Discussion

It is very rewarding growing lilies from the little bulbils and from seed. I have tiger lilies, lilium regale and various others flowering now - all took 3 years to make good flowering size bulbs. Galtonia Candicans is another good one to try.

Forgot to add, make sure you wear a good pair of walking boots because they were both really long days

I agree with Bayleaf & Fran, You really need to canvas the members first otherwise you may find you put in all the hard work & effort & get nothing but moanes & groans when it is finished about, Oh you should have done this or that. It can be a very thankless task if your not careful & you...

Whilst I am feeling a tad pessimistic about the petunias - I shall be delighted if it is unwarranted, sides, there is always next year :DI have lost count of the number of time that last bit has reassured me, as I tried to rescue something.

Hi Marley Farley. I have thought about that. Seeds are very easy to exchange by post. But my feeling is that plants are so cumbersome that it is not really worth it. Mind you I would be very willing to meet, exchange or give away plants to anyone in the N Yorks area. Peter.

Pete you may find that overwintering close to the house wall - in containers may lessen the risk. I have overwintered cassia, sesbania and a couple of other plants from Florida this way with some success. (they wouldn't fit in the greenhouse )

Well brazil, I've woundered this myself. The only thing that I can come up with is that the brickwork is very old and porous, and it acts like a sponge,and stores alot of water. The only other plants that manage to survive on there are mosses. There is also a broken guttering above, that...

I see Nottingham uni was featurd on gardeners world last night Bayleaf. Is this not your stamping ground.????? I thought the grounds were so beautifully laid out. Do you have anything to do with that side of things there. Hope you don't think I'm rude.

hello leylandii should be planted at least 20ft from a house but if kept well trimmed to about a 7ft hedge it is ok to be nearer but that does make for a lot of work, as a specimen tree they are beautiful given room but irresponsible planting have given them a bad name, so if you are going to...

Sorry to hear of your bad experiance Michaelmasdaisy. In general I would agree that you should be wary, and inspect any plants very carefully from such sources. There are some DIY supermarkets near me where the plants at times look very unloved. But I have been lucky with Morrisons - I must...

Fran ohhh lucky you.....you must have some water somewhere or nearby ? if not, dig a bowl of water in ground somewhere, so they stay with you. Washing up bowl will do...Ladybird

Hi Joe.... it needs more light and humidity.. more so, if it's the variegated type, how big is it ? but if you can give it now the right environment...it will grow new leaves later...just keep in on damp side and feed it on general fertiliser. May also need repotting... Keep reporting...

http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profiles0802/grape_shanking.aspthere you go

Actually the best way is outside a greenhouse and lead the shoot in somehow, as the roots like a large cool root run

Cheers, LesH, I will get that done in the next few weeks. Regards Otto.

Hello there I am sorry to tell you you do not need your mother in law to breed your viruses for you you can do this all by yourself however it feels better if we can blame someone else.There is not a lot you can do this season just be sure to sterilize all the greenhoue including the soil and...

Hello there Its been said before, dont worry you will soon develope your own growing methods and may be better than you think . enjoy your greenhouse experiment a litte keep notes so as not to do it wrong again next year I can tell you your tomatoes will be the best you have tasted. kind...

Ficus benjam.need good light,as Steve sais, specially ,if it's the variegated type and moderate watering, not spasmodic.....over or underwatering. It also enjoys a spray now and again, if it's in a dry athmosphereLadybird

Hi EllieLou Ideally, its best not to plant conifers in particular leylandii(the fastest growing). They suck all the water & goodness out of the soil & support very little wildlife - if you must have conifer, Thuja is a better alternative, although slower growing. You could go for a hedge of...

Hi Debjk Although you don't say what type of soil you have (does make a difference!)Any of the following are fine for shade, in any reasonable soil, & most will cope with dry conditions (but mulch every spring) They are taken from a planting plan I did for a shady area in a client's garden, so...