General Gardening Discussion

Japanese maples seem to prefer a slightly acid soil but will do fine in a neutral soil They need good drainage and a constant moisture content ... not going too wet or too dry as mentioned Have you ever tried growing them from seed? You can produce some brilliant plants free of charge

'Langlow' do a sustitute tar oil Creosote. But it still has that original smell :D

The person who said that building your own shed takes forever is absolutely right, ive built my own and its not quite finished yet, just the door to do. maybe I will put up a pic when its done, but paladine's shed put mine to shame really! mine is kinda just plain, but made completely from...

Hey,I had a similar experience. The weed proof layer just stops weeds coming up, but new ones can grow on top of it. The other year I had a real go over the front garden weeding and put down a layer of small stones around the plants, I found this really helped as that year I only had a few...

I haven't had any problems with the ones I've grown,Pete, and my MIL has been growing them for years in central and west Scotland, through good and bad winters, so I guess they're not all that tender!Only trouble is, the rabbits like them! :D

It is more the wet which does the damage than the cold. Both planted in well drained positions will survive quite surprisingly cold temps, but they soon rot in cold WET soil.

If you fancy something basic:It seems ok, for free, but took me a while to get to grips with it

me too Rosa but I got so cheesed off with it and gave it away.now the person who has it informs me that it is A TRENDY PLANT.HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL

http://www.gardenerscorner.co.uk/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=002448#000009 This is the thread Jazid is referring to - where he recommends the 'Compactum' form

I can see the slideshow now- a massive undertaking with lots of promise. Like your own Secret Garden! Hope it works out for you.

Able to wonder around my new garden today. Managed to clear out a old rockery. Was careful not to lose any of the plants. The weeds where awful a lot of couch grass. Apart from a couple of roses which did not belong in there. Plus we planted some conifers, so have made a start on it all. Hope...

that,s the way to do it Dave W i hope you enjoy them can,t beat home grown fresh vegtables

I just layed it over on its side and because it had pushed itself up it tended come out easily. Saw the roots off, and because it was mainly root and very little compost it wasn't that heavy to lift it back in, in one quick heave. Mind you I was 10 years or so younger then. :D

Now there's a way of killing off this discussion completely, Pal. What a horrible thing. How on earth can anyone be so desperate they have to do something like that?

Jazid - thank you - very interesting.In a way you are right this sort of info doesn't help gardening on a day to day basis. But I do like to understand the principles involved behind any system. If you understand the principles you very often have a good gut feeling for what's going on, and...

thanks miraflores will try anyway my rockery is small so they cant go to far,i think it might be worth it. kathy3

I'd be inclined to leave some stem for it to resprout from, it depends on what you want the cut down version to look like. As for the cuttings. its best to strip some leaves from the lower end of the stem and I would allow the cut end to dry for a few days before inserting it in a pot of sandy...

All I can find is that it likes a well drained soil, and keeo it flattened to avoid brown patches! It sounds a great plant, seems to be from NZ. How big are your plants and are they really moss like? Looks lovely http://www.trevenacross.co.uk/shop/page8p.htm Sounds as if it should be...

Sounds good, Dave W. We have CDs of these sorts of things, sea, thunderstorms (brilliant), trains, etc. All very soothing for inducing sleep. Snore ...

Superb photos HB Love the crystalised rose