Gold1locks

What's the weather like in your area?

All fleeced up for tonight.  Too cold and windy to do anything non-essential. Thursday looking better. 

celendines

 They produce lots of bulblets in the leaf nodes and can spread rapidly. Spot treat with glyphosate repeatedly - every 10 days, ideally with a touch weeder to avoid damaging other plants.  If it's in your lawn, use Verdone. You will have to repeat it next year, and possibly the year after,Search and destroy - exterminate, exterminate!!

Dead fruit Trees?

Besides the scratch test, you might be able to lift one out of the pot to check the health of the roots. Vine weevil grubs attack many ornamental fruit trees in pots, and you don't know they have been there until it's too late - your description indicates some distress last summer. ) . If it was vine weevil, there may not be any grubs left by now, but the root system will have been attacked and it should be noticeable. 

moderator

I have been complaining to the moderator about the lack of moderation, with no response. maybe a separate thread will catch someone's eye, but I suspect they are all too wrapped up on the big site revamp. 

Which shrub to plant in this situation...?

Summer bedders such as tender geraniums or begonias will give colour until October,  and/or trailing fuchsia, trailing slver or gold leaved helechrysum,  then replace with violas (prettier and more floriferous than pansies IMHO) until March. 

Which shrub to plant in this situation...?

Fairygirl, I wondered about that. When i had them in pots I used to move them out of the way after they had flowered. Only problem is the 1 ft x 3 ft trough - it won't take a pot big enough for a camellia I don't think. 

Which shrub to plant in this situation...?

You can keep them to any size you want within reason. MIL has some in a raised bed and they are around 5 feet tall. Prune immediately after  flowering - May time usually.

Arjak, you are spot on. I didn't mention it because Mrs. W's description of the planned site suggested it would probably not get morning sun. MIL's Jury's Yellow has caught the morning sun and the white flowers have been disfigured with brown edges. 

Which shrub to plant in this situation...?

A camellia? If so make sure you use ericaceous compost. get one of the x williamsii hybrids (such as Donation)  rather than the japonicas - they are hardier and don't need so much sunshine to flower. 

Moving honeysuckle

They are woodland plants - I had a woodland with lots of birch and rowans (light canopy)  and a few oak and beech amongst them. The native honeysuckles went for the birch and rowans, but the flowering was sparse, and mostly near the top of the trees. 

Vine Weevil

Daffygardener, good timing! The EU has just (today) approved the banning of three neonicotenoids, ones that are used on a commercial scale such as imidacloprid. The active ingredient  in Provado Ultimate Bug Killer and Vine Weevil Killer (thiacloprid)  is not affected by the ruling, so the big volume users have been tackled, and gardeners still have choices available to them.  

Sting in the Tale

Sting in the Tale

ground frost warning

Iris Katharine Hodgkin

Scarifier / aerators / rake

Website problems?

Who else loves the humble sempervivum

BBC Gardening Arrivals - Meeting Point