Mary6

Talkback: How to take lavender cuttings

Last year I simply popped a lot of lavender off-cuts into patches of bare soil in a corner of the garden, and now I have at least 50 small lavender plants.   I simply took some healthy looking pieces 3-4 inches long from when I cut back the lavender bed.  I think about 75% must have rooted.  I simply couldn't be bothered with pots and compost etc and would probably have forgotten to water them anyway.  The 'cuttings' rooted in two different types of soil - edge of rockery and damp and shady.  Really easy.

Bad service, bad plants beware!

I've been rather disappointed with T&M - recently bought penstemons on offer - 2 of the 5 dead in 24 hours.  Also fell for the offer of £100 of perennials for £9.99 - It was a waste of £9.99, if I'd paid £100 I'd have been livid.  Would like to buy everything from a nursery/garden centre but the ones local to us are v. poor.

Sad flowering cherry

Sounds encouraging.  Only difficulty now is the dry sunny day!!!

Poppy help please.

My mum had a similar problem with tulips - just as they were coming in to bloom they were decapitated and she had a lovely display of stalks - it was deer.  Seems they liked the red ones best.

Sad flowering cherry

Thanks, thought it might be that.  What I'm mainly worried about (apart from the lack of dry sunny days) is I will have to cut nearly all the branches right back to the main trunk which will look a bit odd.  How long will it take for the tree to regain its weeping shape?  And will it ever?

Flippin' pigeons

I use holly sprigs - stick them in the soil around and among new plants.  Helps deter cats too.  Much as I don't like the pigeons, I find cats worse. 

Sad flowering cherry

I have a beautiful weeping flowering cherry tree in my garden which I think may have a canker disease.  There are totally dead branches and branches with a cluster of leaves on the very ends but none along the length.  There are also eruptions of brown jelly like stuff along the branches.  I'm thinking of pruning back all badly affected branches to good wood but am worried how, when and if the tree will re-grow.  Anyone recognize these symptoms?

what are these?

Hi Lorea,

I think I get a lot of the top one in my garden - let them flower one year and they had small pink flowers on them - totally insignificant so I pull them up as a weed.  Don't know what the second one is, as others say, it looks like sweet william and even if it does turn out to be a weed it looks like an annual that will pull up  easily.

What's the weather like in your area?

Loevely day today - especially later in the afternoon.  Could do with more like this but rain forecast again for tomorrow and Thurs and cold again but dry at the weekend.  Where's summer?

Talkback: Cats in the garden

Seagulls never did the trick in our garden - our cat chased them.  Caught one once too - don't know who was more surprised, cat or gul!

Sad flowering cherry

Magnolia