auntie betty

Acer advice needed

Here's a tip - water with rain, not tapwater, or you'll be making soil less acidic/ more alkaline all the time. Leaving soil level 2 or 3 inches down below pot rim helps plant make the most of the rain, and surface mulch (eg slate chips) reduces evaporation. xx

Design Ideas

You could put a neat little box or lavendar hedge around the edge and then have the wildflowers frothing out the top... That real contrast between the formal and blowsy works fantastically and has been a design staple for decades. Just bear in mind the short season of native wildflowers - you may want to add bulbs for early interest and maybe some prairie-style grasses and late flowering perennials to extend the season. You could even keep a few little pots of something clipped and topiary-ish to stand in there in winter, when everything else is akip. The world's your lobster...

Cuttings from Wisteria?

I thought wisteria were usually grafted...? I'd buy one, personally, and save home-propagation for stuff thats a) a bit quicker and b) you want loads of, rather than just the one. But I'm both greedy and really impatient, so perhaps not the best source of advice here. So I'll just shut up.

Help with Plant Identification

Well I STILL think its an eryngium. Some pics on google look awfully similar, incl spines in right place. There are tonnes of varieties, with widely differing foliage, and several are native and common to the area in question. Apparently some are edible or used medicinally. So i bet its well known locally if its wot i think it is. We call it sea holly, though few vrieties actually grow on coasts (not those in Afghanistan, obviously). Mostly a plant of open grassland or desert scrub. Anyway, i guess we'll havta wait and see wen it grows up a bit. Always difficult to identify such littlies. Hope it flowers this year and Budgieo remembers to put us out of our misery! I've learned sum new plant facts anyway...

softwood cuttings

Yep, can do semi-ripe cuttings in mid-summer, though tiny plants are cheap as chips and would probably save you a year or two of waiting...

Help with Plant Identification

Yep, definitely an eryngium. Tough as old boots so long as not waterlogged. I used to live in mainland China where temps are similar to what you're getting - takes some getting used to, doesn't it? Plants tend to be extremely tough as a result. I second the best wishes btw - stay safe and good gardening. xx

PVC Fencing

Hey y'all, I need some fencing in a run that slopes up slightly at one end (perhaps 18ins max change in level) and was considering using pvc gravel boards along tthe bottom. Then they can be sunk into the slope so the timber panels above stay clear of soil level and dont rot. Was thinking of dark brown, as I stain my timber that colour anyway. Anyone any experience of these? Do you have to use pvc posts with them?

Bay tree dying - Newt?

Yeah, looks drowned to me. Follow instructions above for re-potting. Also, give it a good prune - get rid of the dead/dying bits. Save it wasting energy on stuff that's had it anyway. Have to say, I found the idea that the newt was somehow responsible HILARIOUS! Set me off with all sorts of comedy mental ramblings about just what it might be getting up to in there - it started with excreting alien-style toxic slime thru its skin and now it's like a little cartoon newt plant assassin in my brain, complete with raincoat, fake moustache and bottle of roundup spray. And sinister Mutley laugh. See what you've done to me? That's the trouble with being a new gardener tho - seems like all sorts of things everybody knows except you! Much seems like common sense once someone sez it, but now and again u come across something that's just plain weird. Sinister newts start to seem entirely plausible...

Bx

Help with Plant Identification

Some sort of eryngium (sea holly) maybe?  Foliage does look right for one, and they are spiny guys, but I'm only familiar with frost hardy types, and depending on where u are over there it may or may not be hardy.. I'd google eryngium images and see if you recognise what comes up. Also, let it grow on a bit. If it flowers, u'll be able to identify it much more easily. I love it when stuff pops up like that!

  Bx

Need help identifying trees please

Looks like some kind of prunus to me. Can't think what else it could be! What's the flower like? White/pale pink/dark pink? And do the fruits have multiple seeds or single stones inside?

PVC Fencing

swell gel and plant food

shrubs for cut flowers

Shady spots

Soft yellow or hot pink climbing roses

new guinea impatiens

Pots of summer colour in partial shade

best annuals for shade / partial shade

Hops

Flowers for July?

Shadyish paving creepers

Associations

top 5

Plant suggestions please