Angelique2

Broad beans again

My bean seeds seem to just disappear and this is the second year in very different weather conditions that only a few seem to grow out of the many that I plant. Is it mice or birds? Any ideas please?

underground slugs

If it's slugs, they are like the ones on our allotment and they do live under the soil, just coming up to eat our precious plants. I use Nematodes which are parasites to slugs and work brilliantly. You buy them online and water them into the soil. Easy to do and very effective. They saved most of our crops this year which was the Year of the Slug!

Where do I start?!

When my daughter was in this position she hired a gardener for just a few hours to help her sort it out and name some of the plants and then she went on from there. I have found the local gardening centre or nursery centre staff are really helpful, so take some photos and ask for help. The green manure for the veg plot is excellent, I used it on my new allotment and it keeps the weeds down and feeds the soil. Autumn is a good time to plant this and again ask advice at the nursery/garden centre for what to use. Enjoy your garden.

seeds not germinated

Hi, I've had trouble with sunflower seeds both in the cold frame and in the ground at the allotment. Only 4 out of two packets have germinated. I thought perhaps mice or birds have eaten them.

Composter

We had a rat in our compost bin at the allotment and we found if you keep turning the compost the rats leave and have never come back. They hated being disturbed.

Newspapers & Cardboard in Bean Trenches

I tried just sheets of cardboard and as the weather has been so dry they haven't automatically rotted down so next time I will cut up small. I use my paper shredder to do paper and it is rotting down well. Make sure it is well wetted when you put it in the trench.

Weatherproofing Wood

As the pallets are usually free I've not bothered to paint mine and eventually as they rot they will end up as part of the compost. However mine is at the allotment so do not have to look beautiful.

Cordylines

My cordiline survived the very worst of winter 2010/11 but it is getting too tall. Will it regrow if I cut it off half way up? It is about 10 foot tall now with all the growth at the top.

Frost

Hi I thought someone might have an answer to the problem as mine even went brown this last winter which has been milder here in Somerset. My book says Ceanothus needs shelter from harsh winds and severe frosts so I think mine needs a new home.

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