gardengirl6

Soil and tulips

Tulips have enough nutrients for one year in their bulbs, so will be OK this year in old compost and flower in the spring.    You would need to change the compost after that, and to grow veg in you would need to change the compost for new.   Tulips are amazing.    When you buy a bunch in the supermarket they have been grown in water!    I saw a TV programme where they planted tulip bulbs in water, and cut the flowers for market just six weeks later.     Since then I do not worry about how good the compost is for the first year!

Tidying up herbaceous plants for winter

I like to clear up as much as possible in the autumn.    I need to see the spaces ready for planting more bulbs to flower in the spring.   I grow annuals such as cosmos, marigolds and lavatera, and these need to be removed.   When I cut down the perennials I always leave about 6-8 inches of stalks so I can see where they are.    It seems most people like to clear up in the autumn.    I do as much as I can and then the weather usually stops me!      I hope this is of some help.

Shrub Pruning - No limits?

Well, it can be cut back.    I know someone who keeps their Dawn at about four feet, and rather columnar in shape.    It does still flower, btu this is because it is pruned after flowering in the Spring.    Later pruning might remove the flowering wood.    If you plan to reduce yours, be prepared that you might lose the flowers for a year, until it recovers.

Tree/shrub suggestion

If it is any help, the shrubs/trees I have in pots are hydgrangea, acers, pieris, rhododendron, camellia, roses, flowering cherry, lavender, conifers, a patio buddliea, fuschias, rosemary, etc.

Insulating Greenhouses

Yes, I agree with obelixx.    Bubble wrap is the most effective.   If the cost seems prohibitive, you can use it for several years.    If still too much, you can always use it and only insulate part of your greenhouse, creating a wall across with the bubble wrap.    It depends how much you need to put into the greenhouse for winter protection.

Hard pruning pyrancatha hedge

I have a small pyracantha hedge, which I prune all year round.    I just lop it off whenever I have the time and I think it needs it.    I try to cut back to the flowers in the summer, and the berries in the autumn.    It is a tough plant - cut back as often and as much as you like!

Greenhouse

Our greenhouse, in a south-facing garden, gets some shade from trees, but gets some direct sun too.    This means we never have to use greenhouse shading in the summer, or wash it off later!    We avoided a spot where trees actually overhung it, so that falling branches weren't going to cause a catastrophe.   We have a water butt on each side which fills from the guttering we installed, and keeps the greenhouse going.

My advice to anyone considering purchasing a greenhouse is to pay the extra it costs for safety glass.    I once threw a stone over the fence into a hedgerow, only the throw went wrong and it hit the greenhouse instead.    The stone just bounced off!   Phew!   The saftey glass is certainly worth considering if you have children or grandchildren using your garden.   

Plant id

Highly poisonous - don't grow this if your garden is visited by children!

When do you plant seeds taken from this years plants....

When I save seeds and am unsure of when to sow them, I check the seed packets in the garden centre!

When to plant spring bulbs

Daffodils should be planted by end of October, which gives you a little time to enjoy your other flowers.    I usually try and squeeze mine in between the summer plants, using a narrow bulb-planting trowel.    Tulips should never be planted until November, as others have said.