General Gardening Discussion

Sawfly larvae like small caterpillars. They will have gone by now so don't spray. The bush will soon recover and put out new leaves. My spindle is similarly eaten, but new leaves are coming out already and those are untouched. It will be ok - honest! :D

Wow, nice looking tree! I can wait till mine gets that big!

Magnolias are nice trees to have by decking. I have a magnoilia called susan. Also standard catalpas are good. There is a list of trees here that I would recommed from my own garden.http://www.gardenerscorner.co.uk/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=21;t=000192Magnoilia 'Susan'Magnolia...

Just love ants Hornbeam. Such fascinating societies and what amazing power to weight ratios."Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest" (Proverbs 6:6-8).

Thanks all, Will try and post some pics and then you can see my humble beginnings. I now have big plans for the rest of my plot, so hopefully it won't be long before it's looking loads better. Cheers :D

Welcome Chellee. When I started I looked through lots of pictures of gardens in books. You have to ask yourself which ones you like and then try and work out why. And which ones you did not like and why. That way I got some idea of what sort of style of garden I wanted, formal or informal...

Both these are hardy fuschias so it depends on the position of your window box and the severity of the winter. The ivy will be OK!

Lovely pic. wildflower, another plant that's a must have for next year!

We had a ESP a few years ago called Fennel and we called her Fenn - all the litter were named after herbs - I liked Basil but we wanted a bitch

Well, I'm totally fed up. Was so excited at the weekend as my newly planted honesuckle were in bud, only to find today that all the flowers have bean eaten and leaves are in holes. Aarrghh!!! I've looked under the leaves and can't find any caterpillers, though I have found some green fly. ...

You can cut the flower stalk down but you should leave the leaves.

shiney i will have to try your lemon balm cake recipe..as i havnt tried that..sounds really interesting..

Thanks both of you for replyingBelieve me, it's not my first choice - but it looks like a solid mat around 2.5m x 0.75m I'm not sure I'll have any other options. I guess I can start just breaking it up by hand - there's SOOO much there that if I kill 1/2 of it in the process it's really...

Tangle ....I think you'd struggle to kill it stone dead !...where pruning has not been done for several years, a few strategies can be employed. One is to completely remove the old cordons except for a six inch renewal spur at the head of each cordon. Allow new shoots to grow down the wire to...

Love the loosestrife.. The great willowherb is a mystery the birds have been attacking mine and the one in the back garden now looks very sorry with no flowers on it..as i was waiting for the seed capsule..but i think the birds got their first..

oh no!i cut my sweet william right down to about 4 inches when the finished flowering.i did dead head them for a while but nothing came of it.mine are in pots and ive just put them in the gh.please tell me i havnt killed them and theyll come again next yr. :(

Hi Plotty.Well done again for a great update. As usual your vegetables and flowers look fantastic. I could just eat some of those raspberries.I am sure you would sweep the board at any shows you entered. Daniels flowers look good as well.It is nice to see a young person with so much interest,a...

hi, Chri$ and welcome, as Tangle says Magellanica are really the only fuchsia for a hedge, with a multi pack hopefully you will get the light pink and white ones as most hedges seem to be the commoner red variety.

If Lupins are dead headed they won't re-seed ...however they can be cut back to the base when the first flowers have faded and you may be get a second later flush of flowers. M-L

Piri-piri ripening in the hot sun!