General Gardening Discussion

We only do a bit of weeding and some cutting back. Otherwise they look after themselves. Everything here has to look after itself as we have so much to do. The picture above is about a third of our front garden and that is small compared to the back garden. It gets harder every year ...

Sad, sad oldie am I. Have you thought about visiting your local garden center. I am sure you will find a display of popular cacti and succulents. Just a thought.

I planted out a lot of the seedling Auriculas when we first arrived, just so as I did not have to spend hours watering them. I have found a fair few of them completely rootless and no longer connected to the ground. First time I have ever had this happen with plants in the garden. Really...

I'd go for willow whips,cheap as chips .

Thanks for the replies, that's very reassuring.

Are those dimensions correct? The description says the blade is 42cm x 31cm. Seems like a convenient size for lifting a shovel full withiut breaking your back

Hi Simon, in case of Astrantia I would just deadhead them and not cut them down to the ground. They're one of my favourite plants being so reliable, I just wish they were in more colours!!

It was @Sienna's Blossom , only sadly being a child I didn't fully appreciate it. Love to have one now though .

Hi, Thank you, i have sent you a message.

It would be for growing plants from seeds or rooting of cuttings.

@Nikolaos yes G yeoi is named for Peter Yeo. I've had it for about 15 years (seed from Chiltern Seeds), seed companies appear to sell it as G rubescens. I think it can hybridise with robertianum. I find that the smell of robertianum is quite variable and not unpleasant.

Depending on the size of shrub, of course! If you pick something that's more like 4ft or so, the roots are less likely to make a nuisance of themselves. That said, a previous ex-council house had a 10ft forsythia growing out of a tiny bed on top of the main drain manhole, and that didn't seem to...

This is perhaps what makes gardening so interesting. Irrespective of ones knowledge of horticulture, what books we have read etc. We all at some point ask our friends. So so often we find ourselves perhaps underestimating the plants ability to withstand the traumas of life. I wonder. ...

Christmas Cactus. Parent and younger sibling.

Hi @gardening lassie - welcome! If the soil is always dry (and it will get more so as the pear grows), then it is worth thinking about less 'lush' plants that can stand it. For the south facing section maybe go for lavender, helianthemum, dianthus, bulbous things like alliums, dwarf irises,...

Oh, I knew that, Caroline. It was just that I thought it needed clarifying so that fjordaan, didn't make the mistake that some of my friends did of cutting back the Lavender too far

Bone Meal will cause some animals to dig in that area. Also, yes don't cut the foliage, but you have to dead head, cut off the spent flowers. If you want to avoid too much lifting and dividing plant a little further apart than suggested then it takes longer to get to that point. I...

Chimera.As our local tip now charges £60 to dispose of a small shed, my £5.82 chimnea is now an even bigger bargain.

@CarolineL Yes they are scented, a slight honeyed scent. It's easier to pick up on the pot grown ones in the greenhouse. Less air movement and a bit warmer. At this time of year the outdoor ones can get battered with the weather. The C laevigatus does better with the weather, being a bit smaller...