Joe_the_Gardener

Blackbirds

SilverFairy,

Dunnocks have pretty complicated breeding habits - males can have two or three females, and females commonly have two males. Male and female territories are separate, but male territories are not exclusive to one bird, and you may have dominant and subsidiary birds, both of whom mate with the female, but only the dominant male will feed the young unless mating has occurred with the subsidiary male.

Not in the least brown and boring!

Talkback: Cleavers

Maud,

I'm sure the Sweethearts name is more widespread than that - I know it from Gloucestershire - but the indispensible The Englishman's Flora by Geoffrey Grigson only lists it as from Somerset, but then language research moves on, and the book is 45 years old.

He quotes the Flora Vectensis (1856) as saying that it was commonly chopped up and fed to young goslings in the Isle of Wight. It is recorded in an old herbal as a cure for skin diseases, scurvy and piles, although what the exact treatment might have been in the latter case I don't know.

Joe

rejuvenating shrubs

I've seen Photinia growing between the central reserve safety barriers on autoroutes in France. They are cut mechanically to a height of about 1.5m. Photinias are very forgiving.

High Boundary

Dux,

What plants are in your present hedge, and has it always been 11 ft high while you've lived there?

Flobear's idea is a good one

The best way to find out what you're allowed to do in terms of boundaries is to go and ask the Planning Department rather than guess or take the advice of the possibly badly-informed guesses of others. Planners are very helpful, know the law and often have good alternative suggestions to make.

Don't forget that whatever you do it's got to have appeal for a future buyer of your house or your neighbours', so don't make a problem for them or yourself.

Joe

Can anyone name this please

Burfi,

Going back to your first plant (the one hanging on your door frame), it looks to me like Snowberry (Symphoricarpos rivularis).

Joe

Deadheading RhodedendonDead

Sorry, Lorelei. I originally asked whether there was any justification for the American advice (they referred to preventing fungal attack and reducing seed-set) and proposed a simple experiment to see whether dead-heading would make any physiological, as opposed to cosmetic, difference to the plant.

Losing interest in the thread, I inadvertently wrote 'pruning' rather than 'dead-deading'. Needless to say, I do know the difference!

Thanks for Millais's advice, Grandma. Again, it would be interesting to know if it's backed up by any objective research. Obviously, they have an interest in offering plants that look good.

Joe

Identify bug?

Sorry, Sue, didn't mean to appear pedantic.  The problem is that at some stage of being interested in these critters I found it useful to be a be a bit more analytical. Also, I used to get told off by a good friend who was a very skilled entomologist.

Joe

Deadheading RhodedendonDead

Which brings us back to whether the reasons for pruning (apart from appearance) suggested by the Americans have any validity.

Talkback: Cleavers

It seems to have been a good year for Goosegrass. It is annual that is quick to seed, so you need to pull it out early. The fragile roots don't make any difference - it's a new plant that comes up. I actually don't mind dealing with it; it seems to surrender quite easily.

Please identify this plant

It looks as though some of the seeds may already have been distributed!

Hedging shears

Malvern