General Gardening Discussion

I must apologise for my previous comment! When you have lived in a place most of your life you just don't see the beauty. Or it may be that when I was growing up I couldn't get away with anything because your mum could always see you.... even if you were miles away! I lived in a small village...

Thank you. I'll try again.

You could take a cutting off that and have two plants.P. S. All the time you were removing the top-growth the root system will have been growing stronger & bigger.

Clematis fall into three pruning categories (sheered to 30cm in March, short back and sides to tidy up or left to mostly get on with it), depending on whether they flower on new or old growth.

Of course you can't see the pond, it's a hidden pond. You have to walk right up to the geraniums to see it. It used to be the neighbour's cat's favourite spot to lie and hope that blackbird chicks fall into it's mouth. After I dug the pond I believe the cat fell in a few times before deciding...

Complete mismatch of male/female courgette flowers this year, I've been sharing male flowers with a neighbour, without which loads of female courgettes wouldn't have been pollinated.

Re: Chinese seedlings. Read article in the Guardian today. Seems lots of unsolicited packets of seeds arriving USA and Canada labelled 'ear studs' Mine were this (didn't include this!) One only labelled what I'd ordered. However I was able to find my original orders if you remembered, but I've...

I always use scaffolders' gloves, from Quickfix. A scaffolder once gave me a pack of 10 pairs and I wouldn't be without them now...bramble proof, long lasting.

Its only a young bulb and it flowered for the first time this year. Grown from offsets from a larger bulb which I dont have anymore.

I think the first picture is a flower bud yet to open, same for the second picture. When the flower is dead the dry ends of the seeds poke out from the closed bud.I think most are now F1 s so are often sterile.

Thanks for replying I'll wait and might try to divide them then. Yes I know what you mean. To be honest I give them very little attention. They stay where they are all year and flower over a couple of months. They wouldn't survive in my borders either so they'll have to stay in a pot

@shiney Now that is a lovely plant, I may get one myself! I presume when you say popular, you mean with the gardener and not the rabbits?

I'm looking for more information on a lost hybrid of B. davidii/forrestii called Buddleja X 'Hotblackiana'. Has anyone ever seen this plant? I've seen the Wikipedia page, and the reference is wrong, as it doesn't mention the Buddleja at all.I have a plant labelled B. limitanea, origin...

As I've mentioned in another thread, I want to put a few azaleas into a border. But how far apart should I put them, and hence how many should I buy? The variety is Dwarf Orange (possibly also Dwarf White, depending on the answer to my question). Thompson & Morgan have them listed here and here....

Probably some time in the future, similar comments may be given.

I wonder if there's any link with bitter cucumbers? I had to bin 3 plants this year that were consistently producing bitter fruit, despite taking off male flowers...

Dog pee always kills grass in summer, in winter the rain and wet soil dilutes it. Follow the dog round with a bucket of water.

Just about every single plant in my garden, both fruit and veg have been sub par this year. Everything started out so promising then went to hell in a handcart. South coast so a very wet winter (lost all my delphiniums) then a glorious spring then saharan conditions in summer probably did it. If...

Re @strongylodon , think its time free up the bench space to put the Marigolds into the borders !Did a greenhouse clean up the other week and been spraying all the plants, mainly Fuchsias, with SB Plant Invigorator to try and rid the Whitefly and a Spider Mite outbreak.Always a bit...