Search - Articles

Balling is triggered by cool, damp conditions, often in a partially shady site, where water-saturated outer petals fail to dry out before being scorched by the sun. The mushy plant tissue dries to form a stiff straightjacket around the petals, preventing the flower from opening. ...

Shrubs are useful building blocks when you're planning a garden, providing structure and substance. Winter is an ideal time to assess your garden and see if there's an empty space that's just right for a new shrub.Shrub

-infection. This is particularly important in autumn when the spores can overwinter on fallen leaves to contaminate seedlings or new growth in spring. Prune out infected growth and maintain an open centre to shrubs to allow good air circulation through the plant.Spray the plant

Sometimes shoots appear on previously plain-leaved plants with attractive variegations, and these can then be propagated by nurserymen to make a new plant. But the new variegated plant might try to revert to all-green foliage because the mutation isn't stable. If left, this all-g...

, just as the new foliage emerges, as a preventative measure.shrubs, roses spring, summerCommon problems affecting trees and shrubsAcer tar spotLeaf miner flyReversionPowdery mildew

of ornamental shrubsCankerEuonymus scaleLeaf miner flyHorse chestnut scale insect

Browse a selection of deciduous treesBrowse a selection of evergreen trees

The sap-feeding scale insect Unaspis euonymi is particularly attracted to Euonymus japonica, although it will feast on other evergreen euonymus too. The white males congregate on the leaves, but the brownish-black females live on the bark, making them hard to spot. Large numbers ...

Follow Chris Beardshaw's video guide to transplanting shrubs. Chris explains the benefits of forward planning when transplanting a shrub, giving it the best chance of surviving the move.autumnMore advice on growing shrubsHow to plant a shrub

There are many different fungi that cause this problem, each of which usually affects a particular plant or group of plants. In each case they produce similar symptoms. Affected plants will have discoloured leaves, often also distorted when young, while general growth and vigour ...