BobTheGardener

Gardeners Click

When I read the title I thought it would be about the noise my bones make after all these years of toil in the garden.  Now that's what I call Gardeners Click!

Red Robin Shrub

Hi Leanne, the first thing to do is try and identify which type it is.  There are evergreen and deciduous types of Photinia.  If it has lost its leaves, it is a deciduous type and can be pruned now while it is dormant. If it is evergreen, best prune in spring or summer.  The good news is that whatever type it is, you can cut it back hard if it is really overgrown and it will grow back.  Always cut to an outward facing bud.  Keep it in shape by trimming the new shoots when they reach the size you want.  As new shoots can be damaged by frost, I would err on the side of caution and delay cutting it back until the danger of frost has passed.

If it is an evergreen one, see here:

http://www.gardenseeker.com/pruning/pruning_photinia.htm

Fig tree pests

Yes, they're really a 'glasshouse' pest and only rarely cause a problem outside in the UK.  I get them occasionally on a clematis called "cartmanii Joe" which needs to be kept in my conservatory for much of the year, but putting it outside over the summer generally clears them (probably all of that rain we usually get!)  The mites can overwinter in cracks etc., so there's always a chance they will come back.  Good luck with your fig, Sam! 

Pear Tree Pruning

I don't think you need to do much, but from what I can make out in the photo, there are some crossing branches, some downward-pointing ones and some shaded by other branches.  Those are all unproductive, so worth taking out.  I would probably remove the three I've circled in red, but that's only from a 2D photo of a 3D tree, so you'll have to use you own judgment really as you can see it better than a photo is capable.  As long as you remove downward pointing, crossing/congested and damaged/diseased wood, you will be doing the tree a favour.  There are lots of fruiting spurs, so you aren't going to lose a lot of fruit!

Fig tree pests

Spider mite can be difficult to get rid of and are often resistant to common pesticides.  If they survive the assault with Bug Gun, keep spraying the plant daily with water as they don't like high humidity.  I had great results in clearing a greenhouse infestation by using a predator mite (Phytoseiulus) but the temperature must remain above 20C and they are expensive!  I've also found a spray called SB plant invigorator to be pretty effective too.  That one also acts as a foliar feed. 

What's the weather like in your area?

Woke up this morning to find the snow and ice that had been covering everywhere in Leicestershire for a fortnight all gone!  Had a wander around the garden and can finally see lots of bulb shoots appearing - they've obviously been growing under the snow.  Everywhere is saturated after a night of rain of course, but at least the weed roots come out easily, so did some removal of the creeping field buttercup which plagues my garden, before it has a chance to smother the ground.  One lot of manure bought 20 years ago must have been infested with seeds of that damn stuff as I've never used manure since!

Pear Tree Pruning

Geoff's idea is a good one.  Any chance you could post a photo of it?  You said it had a lot of branches;  If they are all coming from the trunk, it may benefit from reducing the number (5 main branches is considered ideal), but it's difficult to say without seeing it.

Clematis flowering problems

Some group 3 do grow and flower this way and there's not much you can do.  Having the pot in full sun will help, as will feeding with a low nitrogen, high potash fertiliser and pruning any really vigourous shoots to a pair of leaves during the growing season (which will keep it from growing too tall.)  I have a viticella 'blue belle' which doesn't get much direct sun until later in the season and that never flowers below 2m even though it is cut nearly to the ground each year.  All the other group 3s I have (dozens of 'em) usually produce flower from 1m upwards.  As Rosa said, you can try not cutting back some of the stems so hard in early spring, if they are showing live buds.  These buds may then produce flowers earlier in the year.  Most large-flowering clematis can be grown as group 2 or 3, depending on how you prune them.  The pruning groups 2 & 3 aren't set in stone and are only given as a guide to how each cultivar is 'normally' grown.  This became clear to me years ago when I kept finding the same cultivars classified differently, depending on which book I looked in, and that knowledge has helped to get the best out of my collection.

Pear Tree Pruning

How old is the tree?  Young trees need pruning to get a good structure which will pay dividends when they mature, but for older trees it's more a case of keeping them healthy and productive.  Pear and apple trees are pruned in similar ways and now is the time unless you want to restrict growth of a rampant tree which is done in late summer.  RHS advice here:

http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/profile.aspx?pid=90

There are a lot of YouTube videos on the subject too.

Veg plot planner

First thing I would suggest is to divide it into 4 equal sections for crop rotation.  I'd then plant spuds in the section which looked like it needed the most attention, digging-wise.  Peas, beans and other legumes in #2, cabbage and other brassicas in #3 and carrots, parsnips and other root crops in #4.

Doing all of that is going to be a lot of hard work though, especially on a plot of that size which has not been cultivated for a while, so if they are beginners, start small and consider covering the rest of the area with weed-suppressing membrane for a year, after which it will be much easier to cultivate.  See what grows well in the type of soil they have within that first year and what utterly fails (some things will!)  It's easy to try doing too much and getting disheartened.

Bee spotting

New deliveries

Flower ID

Oh no, lily beetles are back!