Talkback: To chop or not to chop? - Talkback

29/10/2008 at 11:25

Perenniels. Crocosmia - you mention "take the long walk". Do you mean leave through to the Spring, or "take the long walk" and chop?

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29/10/2008 at 15:36

Thanks. I like the suggestion that my normal approach might be described as "slowly and steadily editing things out through the season"! I generally regard my efforts as the result of prioritising, with too little time(daylight?) & too much to do at any given moment.

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29/10/2008 at 20:16

Carter: I'm afraid that I mean 'long walk' in the context of immediate chop. Apologies for lack of clarity. Lainey: Appropriate that i should have mentioned it really as we had a fair bit of snow in Northamptonshire last night (it is still here) and a lot of my plants have gone flumpf!

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30/10/2008 at 11:13

James, many thanks. There are two lines of thought about Crocosmia. Some people say leave until autumn. I will take your advice, wish me luck. Carter.

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30/10/2008 at 11:15

James, sorry I used the word autumn in the third line of my message, should read Spring. Carter

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30/10/2008 at 15:02

Hi James, You seem a decent like a cove, o I'm sure you can answer what will seem to you to be a simple problem!. Can Nectaroscordums be planted in containers like other bulbs, and if so how. Thanks in anticipation of a full and comprehensive answers

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30/10/2008 at 17:44

The recent frost has done for my Dahlias-do I dig up the tubers or cut down the plants and cover with mulch?

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30/10/2008 at 18:02

Madame Gummidge, a pleasure to hear from you. Nectaroscordum can indeed be planted in pots but I would suggest that they would look better alongside something else- they look particularly fine with taller ornamental grasses (like Calmagrostis) - in a larger pot. They are better in the ground though. For those who do not know this bulb, Nectaroscordum siculum are particularly lovely, about 1.2m high with hanging bells that emerge from a papery shell. Quite like the people in the original 1956 version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers but without the froth. There is a picture here (http://www.flickr.com/photos/14662964@N08/2986383909/)

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30/10/2008 at 18:16

Fitzytoo: The snow has done for my Dahlias as well. The answer to your question depends very much on where you live. I live in Northamptonshire and leave Dahlias in the ground with impunity - although I dig up any that are in pots and just store them in a shed until about April when I pot them up. If you live in the South then they should be fine left in the ground with a good duvet of mulch.

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30/10/2008 at 18:52

My problem with dahlias is if I do not dig them up I forget where they are (as with my spring bulbs). Since I'm not too fond of labels, any other suggestions - getting 'old' is a terrible problem!!

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31/10/2008 at 09:38

Wonder if you could advise when I should harvest gourds, growing in my unheated greenhouse in W Yorkshire. Planted late, the biggest is only the size of a tennis ball, but I'm not sure if they will deteriorate as the weather gets colder, and I want to dry and varnish them. They keep producing flowers which I'm removing, and the leaves are beginning to get patches of mould, so I take off the worst of those. Haven't grown them before and don't know what to do next - they are mixed gourds.

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31/10/2008 at 10:17

Yes, flumpf is a lovely descriptive word for gardeners but the one I like most was coined by my wife a few years ago when we had a very large flowering cherry in the front garden. At this time of the year she would say that she was waiting for the first frost when the leaves would go 'kerplop' and we would have the job of sweeping them up which was a formidable task for us 80 yr olds. Fortunately the tree has gone but thankfully my wife and I are both here.

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31/10/2008 at 13:53

James Thanks for the info. OOH if only I were old enough to know the film. However I shall look out for it. Bye

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01/11/2008 at 01:13

I work in other peoples gardens and I never cut anything down until it looks unsightly.I like to hang on to every bit of foliage until the last moment. Remember to mulch to protect the crwn of some plants. Re Gourds.I would leave them on till foliage goes over,no point in leaving them after that.

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01/11/2008 at 11:58

I also like to hang on to every bit of foliage and you tend to know when there is no hope left. I live in North Midlands and still have a Daylilly out. This seems a bit late! Has anyone else noticed the same kind of thing?

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01/11/2008 at 19:20

Hi Wilde gardener I live in the north east were it took until September to get my echenacea to flower but after several hard frosts I have mimulas so lush looking and full of flower you would think it was spring the frost has had no efect on it but my hostas and day lillies have totaly died back the high winds have blown the leaves off them it is strange you have day lillies but just enjoy them.

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02/11/2008 at 12:47

commenting for 1st time ! Learner bear with me! I have mahonia in full flower is this the right time of year never owned one before?

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03/11/2008 at 18:47

Mary, that Mahonia's fine - if a tad early. Should smell good as well.

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03/11/2008 at 20:37

thanks for your comment Blackpittsgarden you are right the mahonia does smell good does it need feeding or pruning and can I take cuttings from it ?

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04/11/2008 at 12:40

Just wish I had a garden to clear out!