BobTheGardener

Weird cavity wall flower bed problem

You probably want 'topsoil' which you can buy in those large 'tonne' bags from builders merchants like Wickes.  Ask at your DIY centre as they may well supply them to order.  The tonne bags hold about a cubic metre.  Those sort of places will also deliver any quantity of large bags (eg 70l) of multi-purpose compost and I'd mix some of that with the topsoil (say, 5 parts topsoil to 1 part compost.)  Note that most MP compost is of low quality these days, so if you are happy with the stuff you get from the DIY centre, I'd stick with it!

Weird cavity wall flower bed problem

I'd dig the whole thing out and remove the breeze block 'inner wall'.  The blocks should break off fairly easily with a large hammer and chisel, especially once you remove the first few.  Alternatively, you could try planting some other things (like your saxifrage) which appreciate poor soil and good drainage in the outer part.  Thyme and other similar 'mediterranean' herbs would likely grow well there and the bees would love them.

Raspberries

I put 6 additional new canes in at about the same time but only 4 show signs of life.  I gently dug around one of the non-starters last weekend to have a look and it was indeed just a dead stick with signs of fungal decay;  The hard winter may be at least partly to blame.  Don't worry though if some of yours have also died as the others will soon start spreading by underground runners (although sometimes they can become rather invasive!)

fruit trees

Hi Anil, I think your trees will be fine.  The compost you added will provide plenty of nourishment for the rest of the year, but watering occasionally (eg once a month) with tomato feed is a good idea, especially when the blossom and fruit appear.  Blood fish and bone is good for adding to bare soil, but not essential by any means.  The main thing is making sure the trees have enough water while they grow their new roots, so water at least once a fortnight from now until the leaves drop in the autumn.  If pot-grown trees get too dry when planted in the ground, they can easily be damaged or may even die.

Good Evening FORKERS

Got two rows of spuds planted (at long last!) and lots more potting-on done.  Also found spaces for another Ribes odoratum and a Viburnum x bodnantense ‘Dawn’ in a long border.  No idea where I'm going to put all of the stuff still in the GH - looks like I'll be giving lots of plants away again (which is obviously why I need to keep buying pack after pack of small pots every year, now I come to think of it!)  

Dahlia - white substance on shoots?

Difficult to say what will work as we can't identify exactly what it is, but assuming a fungus, I'd try a copper-based one first with Bordeaux mixture probably being the easiest to get.  If it doesn't work, it will still be useful for other things - see the RHS advice on fungicides for garden use:

http://www.rhs.org.uk/media/pdfs/advice/fungicides

circular formal raised bed what centre piece

I'd go with an obelisk then you can grow climbers through it.  If the plants your try don't suit, easy enough to whip them out and plant different ones.  The cypress idea would look impressive, too.

Tomatoes

Hi Tootles, At the moment I'm putting the pots in the GH during the day, but bringing back indoors at night.  Last night my max-min thermometer in the GH said it went down to 2.3C, which would have done them no good at all.  I agree with Italophile about the temperature range.  If you can afford a max-min thermometer (under £10), they are well worth having in a greenhouse.

Invasive roots in veg patch

Are you sure they are roots and not fungal mycorrhiza?  Those are usually very weak though, except for honey fungus. 

picture difficulties

Hi blackest, I think that's all we can do for now.  I do hope this isn't an intentional change because I have seen some sites do this because they run out of server space.  Unfortunately, relying on external photo-hosting sites does mean that, over time, photos inevitably disappear from the forum threads as folk often unsubscribe from the photo-host sites or delete those pictures when they leave the forums they posted the links to.  There's nothing worse than finding a thread of interest then discovering the photos being talked about are missing!

Bee spotting

New deliveries

Flower ID

Oh no, lily beetles are back!