BobTheGardener

Has anyone got any snow yet?

Hasn't really stopped all day today near Leicester, but mostly fine stuff although it got heavy for an hour or two.  The last lot from a week ago (which only partailly melted) is now underneath 5 or 6 inches of fresher stuff which starting falling friday lunchtime - had to walk home from work friday evening as A6 was gridlocked, but it only took an hour - a friend was on one of the 5 buses I walked by and it took them about 3h to go 3 miles! 

Braved it and dug-up the last of my parsnips this morning, which are now in a slowly cooking stew with home-grown swede, poatoes, cabbage, winter squash, carrot, garlic and onions - can't wait!

Growing fruit

A few others to try in pots are Lingonberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea), Honey berry (Lonicera caerulea), Goji berry (Lycium barbarum.)  Like Blueberries, you are best to get at least 2 plants so they can cross-fertilize (do this by hand if growing indoors.)  All of them prefer an ericaceous compost to grow in and so are best watered with rainwater, especially if you live somewhere with "hard" tap water.  They all come from more northern climes, so will grow outside in most places - Honey berry grows in Siberia, Lingon berry in Scandinavia and Goji berry in Mongolia!

Ground elder

I had a lot of this in my clay soil but glyphosate based weedkiller (Roundup) got rid of it eventually.  Roundup is non-toxic to animals, once it has dried onto the leaves, so do it on a sunny day and keep the dog inside until it has dried.  You want to spray it when it is in full growth and about to flower for best results.  Leave it to die down completely before removing it and the glyphosate should travel to where it's really needed, the roots.  Small patches of it may re-appear, so will need another treatment but as long as you don't let it seed, you will eventually be rid of the stuff.

COMPOST QUESTION

Hi Debra,  The best thing to do is test it by putting some in a pot or tray and sowing some fast-growing seeds, like mustard/cress on a windowsill.  If it germinates and grows ok, it's good stuff!

Has anyone got any snow yet?

3 days after it last snowed and -5.2C near Leicester

 Brrr!

Laurel plants

Laurel is the fastest growing evergreen shrub suitable for hedging that I can think of.  Do keep on top of the pruning when it matures though, otherwise it can get out of hand (you will end up with a row of laurel trees!)  The good news is that overgrown laurel can be cut back hard (to the ground if needed) and it will quickly grow back.  As you are making a hedge, I'd suggest planting them about 40 to 50cm apart.  Also best prune using secateurs as a normal hedge trimmer will damage the leaves which will then look a bit unsightly and may allow diseases to enter, such as leaf spot and shothole. 

Best tasting cherry tomatoes

Another vote for Sungold from me.  I find they consistently start cropping earlier, and also finish later, than any other cherry type I have tried (and that's quite a few over the years!)  A similar one is Golden Cherry - in fact, I can't tell the difference and wondered if they were in fact the same variety under a different name.  For a red cherry, try Tommy Toe, an Australian variety which is very similar to Gardener's delight in flavour, but seems to have better disease resistance and is less prone to spliiting.

Waterbut downpipes

Hi Jatnikapyar,  this one looks like the right one - to fit 25mm built-in guttering:

http://www.gardensite.co.uk/Rainwater_Kit_for_8ft_wide_Halls_Popular_Universal_or_Magnum.htm

They do seem expensive though.  It would be difficult to make something due to the design - mine is the same, they push into the end of the square-section aluminium gutter.  I lost one of the end-stops at the other end, so water just ran out, but I fixed that by replacing it with a large blob of silicone sealant (blu-tack would probably have done!)

Can anyone identify my new fungus?

The only one I know which looks anything like that is "Lion's Mane", but that grows on logs.  As you probably realise, it's fiendishly difficult to positively identify fungi, even with several good illustrated books in front of you (and those give you the best possible chance.)  It actually looks a bit like some lichens.

potato problem

Hi Daisytwo, There is a pest called potato eelworm, but the worms are minute and need a magnifying glass to see, so it probably isn't that.  I suspect the holes are being caused by keeled slugs and the worms are a secondary infection.  Neither of these pests are easy to eradicate, unfortunately.  Crop rotation on a 4-year cycle is usually recommended, but your best bet may be doing that and growing slug and eelworm resistant varieties for a few years.  This factsheet may help:

http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/factsheets/pc24.php

Digging up and storing the potatoes as soon as the haulms die back will help, too.

Bee spotting

New deliveries

Flower ID

Oh no, lily beetles are back!