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These Cornus have a root trainer (right word?) round the base. They don't look plastic so I assume its safe to plant out as is, rather than taking them off before planting? I don't want to rip it off and somehow disturb the roots, but equally dont want to leave it on if it will restrict them. ...

Choose a couple of stems and scrape a little bark off. If it's dry and brown then it's dead. If there is any green it may still be alive. If so when the buds are beginning to break spray with a dilute seaweed TONIC (not feed). This may help stimulate new growth. I agree Lornicera, or...

That one’s a good vibrant blue @Clare G, now on my list .

Hi all.I've been looking at possible layouts for the lawn area. To recap, garden is 5.5m wide and the lawn area shown here is about 9m long.I've laid out two possibilities for path and planting using bamboo canes, and then also show them coloured in.Would appreciate opinions on which one...

Thank you @On the Levels, those small irises really do have one of the best blues in the garden, shame they don’t last long .

Something I’ve done for years but a few years back, the Levington compost I got was so damn woody that the germination was really poor. Usually, I’d just scatter some seeds on the top of a pot full of compo then rake them in with my hand. Got a different method now.

Women bearing 5,6,7 or more children are not unusual even now. Not all will survive to become adults particularly in countries where contraception aid, maternal and general health care is poor or non existent as well as a poor economy. Men can obviously father many times that number and it...

First bloom of 2026, Hibiscus Red Pagoda ...There s a Standrad Red and an April Yellow to open soon.

Landrace Gardening by Joseph Lofthouse is an interesting book about this kind of thing.

I think I poked them vertically into the compost. If I remember rightly they're quite big and easy to handle individually. If you have lots of seed you could try different ways and see what works for you.

One thing I would do if I was planning my garden anew is to put a paved path all around the outside, wide enough to stand a stepladder on or push a wheelbarrow. It provides safe access to the back of the borders for weeding and to hedges and fences for trimming. You think it is going to take up...

It needs a good prune, I'd remove perhaps half the branches coming from the base, any crossing branches and any obviously dead growth. I wonder if it could be a red currant rather than a black currant.