whitevanwoman

Ericaceous soil

I agree with stephanie. It is important to test your soil to establish if it is suitable for acid loving plants. You can buy a pH testing kit for a few pounds from garden centres. If the results are over ph6 then you will struggle to keep acid loving plants healthy and need to resort to container growing. Be aware however that it might be poor drainage rather than the wrong pH. If that is the case a lot of well rotted manure and we are talking tonnes here if it is a reasonable sized area, rather than the odd barrowload, will be required. You could also add grit to the soil to help improve drainage. Try the pH test first though as it is a lot cheaper and involves a lot less initial work.

New House, Old Lawn

I suggest a small investment in a book called "the Lawn Expert" it is part of the Dr Hessayon series, readily available and around the £7.99 mark last time I looked. No you won't become an expert groundsperson, but it will tell you all you need to know with pictures, diagrams and text which is not too technical.

good luck

Where do I get peppermint?

Hi, Loved your carrot heart. If you want to grow it organically try www.jekkasherbfarm.com Jamie Oliver calls her 'the Queen of Herbs'

Pruning (or worse) a Myrtle Communis

My experience of this plant is that it is not a fast grower but is expected to reach up to 3 metres. Thinking of the height of your plant it may very well be the original. Probably time to ask the experts.Try contacting www.jekkasherbfarm.com for their opinion. This is the business of one Jekka McVicar, the' Queen of Herbs' according to Jamie Oliver. Jekka has run for many years an organic herb business outside Bristol. She has won more Chelsea golds for her herbs than anyone else I can think of.

You could also try the Royal Horticultural Society www.rhs.org.uk but you might have to be a member for individual advice.

There is also the National Herb Society which is situated outside of Banbury in Oxon. Sorry don't have the website details to hand.

If all else fails, try contacting your local Horticultural association, better still join it and make new gardening friends. 

foliage near food

Edible herbs such as Rosemary and Bay immediately spring to mind also the tricolour Sage would be rather pretty. Winter Savory, Hyssop, Thyme and maybe Parsley are also all available in January.

white fly

Bunny Guinness back last October on Gardeners' Question Time recommended Neem Oil. It is an organic control for flea mite on plants and pets (she apparently uses it to wash her dog) but also works on whitefly. There are loads of stockists on search engines.

Hope this works for you

Your gardenersworld.com wishlist

A lot more people are using herbs in their everyday cooking, so how about a section devoted to herbs and maybe featuring the herb of the month. I grow some old fashioned ones like Lovage, English Mace and Winter Savoury, which you certainly don't see often in the supermarkets. These are all suitable for adding interesting flavours to foods, but I doubt amny people have heard of them, let alone know what to do with them

confused..

Join your local horticultural association and you will get tried and tested advice from people with similar soil to yours. Charges are usually about £5 per year , which won't break anybody's bank.

Somewhat more expensive, but very worthwhile is becoming a member of the Royal Horticultural Society this is about £40+ per year for an individual member. They had a huge campaign in 2011 about "growing your own" friut and veg that is. Apart from free entry into the 4 gardens (unfortunately all located in England) you will have the advice of world renowned experts which can be given by e-mail.

Hope this helps.

Keeping Cats off My Veg Patch

I don't have any domestic pets but found a waterpistol quite a good deterrant if on the spot.

Cats also don't like citrus, I think it confuses their sense of smell so some thing like a pice of old t towel soaked in orange oil at the spot where they normally enter the garden will work and will last longer than chiili or curry powder. You will of course have to top it up in warm weather

Talkback: Robins

Some Robins are much braver than others. We consider ourselves fortunate to have had Robins nesting either in, or very close to our garden for the last 30 years. A few years ago we had a particularly chirpy chap to whom we would feed tiny cubes of cheese each day. If he considered we were ignoring him, he would come in the patio doors and fly around the kitchen until he got our attention, then fly out and wait for his daily treat. Later on in the summer all we had to do was stand at the same doors and tap a knife on the edge of the cheese plate, to watch this delightful little flash of olive cream and red come hurtling up the garden. He is sadly no longer with us, but will always be remembered with great fondness