gardenning granny

Talkback: Spring blossom

One thing to look out for later on - our victoria was very prolific in fruiting after the previous owner cut it down thinking it was a weed!  The fruit all ripened in a very short space of time and the wasps moved in. This was a bit of problem with fallen fruit and barefooted children....sadly the tree has now had to go.

Good luck with yours Manx - once it gets going there will be no stopping it.

The daftest thing you've done in your garden

Mmm.  dry, lifeless soil - who ever said passionflowers were delicate!

The daftest thing you've done in your garden

It's tipping it down outside - too wet even to run up top my leaky greenhouse!  Much enjoying these mishaps - having a good laugh, thanks.

Daftist thing I eveer did was to believe the seed packet that the five seeds of passionflower were precious and hard to grow.  All grew - were planted against the house wall - grew rampantly and covered the wall with wonderful flowers, followed by apricot-like fruits in the autumn.  The following year I noticed something pokling up above the skirting board on an internal wall indoors.  The plants were so rampant they had found a crack below soil level and were rampaging through the foundations. 

You feel very daft spraying weedkiller down the back of a skirting board.

The fruits dropped to the ground and I left them to rot where they fell.  Big mistake.Like poppies  a goodly crop come up each year and that's affter ten years.

Needless to say the plants had to be removed - and the damp-proof course investigated.....hmmm - not a happy hubby!

any idea what it is

Please think twice about introducing the wild form into your garden.  It produces tiny bulbils deep down in the ground and like ground elder you think you've dug it all out but then back it comes if you've left the tiniest bulb behind.  It spreads mercilessly.  Enjoy it in the local woods and plant an Italicum instead - much prettier leaves and more controllable.

Leaving tulips in the ground

I plant a few pots each year with packs from Lidl.  After dead-heading  I feed with tomato fertiliser, or home-made comfrey fertiliser, until they die down.  Then I shove the pots behind the greenhouse and forget them.  If I remember I empty each pot in the late autumn (November) and if the bulbs look any good I repot them in new compost and leave in the unheated greenhouse over winter.  If they look manky I toss them nthe compost bin.  Perhaps that's why I have some interesting tulips flowering in odd places in the garden this year, adding welcome and unexpected splash of colour.

Hyacinths get planted anywhere not too wet (I'm on heavy clay too) - mine are under an apple tree and they continue to multiply every year - again I feed with tomato food after flowering and then forget about them.

I think it's getting an adequate depth of composty soil on top of your clay that could be the sticking point.

Good luck.

Talkback: How to grow lupins

Thanks Verdun - will try to remember - will be about the same time I start to wage war with the lily beetle - perhaps I can spray them both at ther same time.

bindweed, alder, buttercups, ivy

Thanks chilli lover - had not thought of treating the actual stem - have always thought you neded to coat the leaves.  Will gove it a try once we get a rain-free day.

Talkback: How to grow lupins

I've found that mine don't like the cold damp clay in much of my garden but given a sunny well drained spot they do quite well.  They seem to be very prone to an enormous aphid which is hard to control unless you spot them when they first arrive.  Growing new plants from saved seed every two or three years has proved my best option. 

How do I get rid of ivy and wild asparagus vine?

Trouble with the asparagus vine is that its very fleshy roots grow in amongst valuable shrub and tree roots.  I've dug out the spidery roots many times and burned them, and pull up all the seedlings as soon as I see them. Anything too big to be pulled/dug out without damaging the surrounding shrubs gets cut down to the ground.  I think the secret could be to deal with it the moment you see it because it does grow very fast.  I definitely have less with each year that passes.

Mine is growing in very dry schist.

Lavender hedge!!

Yes, leave well alone.  Once they come into leaf check for any stems totally dead (head to foot) and cut those out.  In the autumn clip all over with shears to leave the lowest shape you can whilst leaving green tips.  Lavender does not make new growth from old wood - it only grows above the existing green/grey leraves.

I take a few cuttings each year ready to replace any plants that have become too leggy.

When can I put the geraniums out?