Aeonium ‘Zwartkop’ Succulent with very dark purple-black leaves. Pinch out to encourage branching. Needs good light. Pot into Cactus compost and feed 2-3 times in growing season. Keep drier in winter. 60 cms (2 feet)

Aloe brevifolia Attractive succulent forming geometric mounds of tight rosettes of short softly spined leaves. Grow in loam based compost with added grit and keep on dry side in winter. Minimum 0 – 3° C.

Asparagus scandens A dainty twining climber from South Africa with soft green ferny foliage, ideal for climbing up a trelllis, but is equally effective as a trailing plant in an ornamental pot. Unlike some other

Cyperus albostriatus (Cyperus diffusus.) A low-growing relative of the Papyrus, this makes good groundcover for the edges of a pond in mild gardens, if allowed the space to spread. Otherwise makes a nice container plant v

Jasminum azoricum Tender, evergreen Jasmine with sweetly scented white flowers March-Dec. Needs support. Grow in a loam based compost in good light but protected from hot sun. 4 metres (12 feet) plus. Minimum 0 – 3°

Justicia carnea – purple leaved form Tender shrub of open habit with dark green leaves with a purple reverse and spectacular, large plumes of bright pink tubular flowers from mid summer to autumn. Cut back in spring to promote bushy

The best solution we have found is to use jeyes fluid diluted one cap full per litre of water either sprayed on or from a watering can with a fine rose. Aslo we have in the passed used iron sulphate and powdered sulphur applied directly to the most to renove it. Both treatments take about 4 to 6 weeks to show any results

Both Privet or yew Hedge can be reduced quite drastically and if care for following the reduction they will recover from dormant buds in the stems.
The reduction in the height is achieved by cutting back the hedges to the height required and then cutting back by a further 150 mm this is to allow for new growth.
To reduce the width prune back one side at a time allowing that side to recover before pruning back the other side of the hedge. In both the cases of yew and privet both can be cut back to the original central stems and will produce new growth from dormant buds in the stem to form a new hedge on that side. Its important once the hedge is cut back to water it well through the spring and summer months and feed it with a standard garden feed such as growmore, this will help to speed up the recovery

If you have recently purchased some plug plants one problem you might have come across it that they can be hard to water especially this the plugs become dry or they are a plant such as Begonia rex where ideally you do not want to get the leaves wet when watering.
One method we use is to place the plugs on some capillary matting on a flat surface with one end of the matting in a trough or bucket. The matting with soak up the water and the compost in the plugs will in turn by capillary action take up the water from the matting making sure the plugs are not over watered and that the plants leaves stay dry.

Starting early potatoes in cold weather or a cold start to the season, after placing the potatoes in egg boxes so they stand up and keeping them in a dark frost free area for a few days until they start to chit. They can be planted out into containers or into the soil. If the weather is cold traditionally you would cover the rows with straw but it is now better to cover the rows with black plastic after planting until the risk of frost has passed and the soil has warmed up. The black plastic sheeting is idea because the colour collects the sun’s heat and so warms the soil.

With the changeable weather conditions many fruiting plants such as grapes can split as the availability of water varies dramatically. If you grapes are growing in soil and the soil is dry after heavy rain the plant can take up too much water splitting the grapes. The best method to combat this is to add by a mulch and lightly forking into the soil lots of organic matter such as garden compost or well rotted farmyard manure or horse manure, this has the effect of spreading out the available water supplied to the plants avoiding the grapes splitting. If you grow grow you grapes in containers then its case of making sure you control the watering by watering little and often to maintain a level of available moisture.
Its also worth checking you soil or compost for the correct levels or iron and magnesium both these elements are key in the formation of fruits such as grapes

The two critical items with lemon trees are the soil or compost pH level and the feeding. The soil compost needs to be slightly acid so you need to carry out a soil / compost pH and nutrient test to make sure that the pH level is correct it needs to be around pH 6.00 to 6.25 most plants are only able to operate and access nutrients as a very narrow range of soil pH. With lemon trees if the pH is lower or higher than the required level the plant cannot access the nutrients required for good growth especially potash and magnesium. One thing to watch for is if your plant are grown in pots and you live in a area were the water is alkaline this over time with watering can raise the compost pH
The two key nutrient with lemon trees are potash and magnesium both these nutrients are important in the formation of flowers and fruits. You can feed with a specialist citrus feed or a liquid tomato feed which contains both these elements

As the harder frosts pass in mid March its a good time to dead head your hydrangea. Most species of hydrangea do not require or are not to keen on hard pruning but removing the old flower heads will help the plant to produce flowers for the coming season. Just cut off the old flowering heads that have been overwintering. They can be used for flower arranging by handing them in a warm place once cut upside down in bunches to dry or they can be hung outside under the shelter of a overhanging porch or shed roof to provide your garden birds with some additional winter feed in the form of seeds in the hydrangea flower heads.

If you read the side of a plant food pack you will see it has an index such as 7:7:7 or maybe 10:3:5 this relates to the NPK elements of the feed

N – stands for nitrogen. You probably knew that one. This nutrient is the leaf and stem developer and adding nitrogen will get thing growing fast. It’s always perfect for leafy veggies. After all, it’s the leafy part that we’re after in vegetables like cabbage, lettuce, Swiss chard, kale, etc.

P – stands for phosphorus. This nutrient is valuable for developing flowers and fruit – plus helps roots take quickly to the soil around them. If you’re frustrated by lots of leaves and stems developing on your fruiting crops like pumpkin or tomatoes. But nary a fruit in sight – you may need a boost of phosphorus.

K – stands for potassium. Potassium promotes healthy roots systems and helps the plants resist disease. It also works alongside the phosphorus in developing fruit. You’ll notice it’s importance if you’re growing root crops such as carrots or turnips.

For shrubs/perennials early season you can use blood fish and bone with an npk 4-7-4 this is a traditional slow release feed it should be applied about a handful per square metre and lightly worked into the soil with a hoe or a border fork. Then later in the season in May you could use miracle grow granules with npk of 10-10-10 this is a high nitrate feed which is quick release feed designed for when plants are growing.

If you need any further advice on a plants feed requirements just use our free online gardening service to ask us a question Click Here

Carrot root fly
If you grow carrots you will at some stage have problems with carrot root fly. The flies home in on the smell of the carrots and lay their eggs in the young carrots. To prevent this, sow as thinly as possible by mixing the seed with silver sand before sowing in the seed drills. This avoids having to thin the carrots out. Normally, as they are thinned out the breaking of the stems creates a lot of scent attracting the carrot flies.
As the carrots grow earth them up to cover the carrot root top, as you do potatoes and finally use Enviromesh Insect Protection Netting as this helps stop the carrot flies reaching the carrots.

1. Plant if possible in an area you have not planted carrots before

2. Sow as thinnly as possible using silver sand to mix with the seed to space the seeds out to remove the need to thin out

3. Sow french marigolds, Calendula and Tagetes seeds each side of the carrot row to help mask the smell of the carrots
this is a type of companion planting.

4. use a Enviromesh Insect Protection Netting as soon as the carrots germinate

5. harvest one row as a time, this might mean storing them in an outdoor clamp as its likely you will have to many to use in one go. Harvest late in the evening and after harvesting water with sprinklers to stop the scent traveling.

If you need to add additional height to a wooden panel fence one way to do this is to add a panel of trellis on top of the existing fence by adding addition posts each side or extending the main posts to secure the new trellis panel to. Once installed a couple of good plants to look at growing up your fence into the trellis are clematis armandii and Pyracantha Orange Glow both these plants are evergreen and they will fill in the trellis panel increasing the privacy in your garden or home

Environmentally friendly slug control. Its best to have a staged attack for different sizes of slugs. Firstly with the large slugs the best and fastest control its to start feeding your garden birds to attract them into the area so they eat the slugs,you will find blackbirds and other garden birds make short work of garden slugs, this works especially well in the spring when the birds are looking to feed young chicks, Next The black plastic bag method if you have a slug attack in one area in your garden this is a quick method to reduce the numbers. Take one black bin liner place on the ground in between your tender plants, then place two lettuce which are well pass the sales date. Finally add two tea cups of breakfast bran and pour a cup full of beer (bitter is best) over the lettuce. Leave over night with the top open and check in the morning, the slug should have climbed into the bag over night and as the sun raises in the morning taken shelter in the bottom of the bag, ready to be removed from your garden.

Finally for the smaller slugs try Parasitic nematodes these are very small worms that attack the smaller slugs. They are called (Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita) and are available from Defenders Limited (01233 813121). These must be applied to the soil in solution. Be sure to follow the pack instructions. Treatment should be done in a block and the soil temperature must be above 5 degrees C

All these methods would be classed as organic and environmentally friendly as they are safe for other wildlife such as hedgehog’s etc

If your Wisteria plant is forming flower buds but they are not opening it most likely to be a nutrient problem i.e a lack of magnesium so try feeding your wisteria in early spring with some liquid tomato feed and also some epson salts 4 teaspoons to a gallon of water. Both these items contain magnesium.
In addition to this its worth mulching the base of your wisteria with some very well rotted garden or farmyard manure as a mulch

Couch grass or twitch grass (Elymus repens)
Best treated with a weedkiller called Round Up once or twice in the spring you need to leave the area before digging over 6 weeks for the Round Up to work its way back into the roots of the Couch grass. Also apply on a mild sunny day if possible. The round up that hits the ground when applied is deactivated by soil bacteria and so its safe to use for your vegetable crops.

Another tip is the areas you are not going to use straight away I would cover over with black plastic silage sheeting from an agricultural merchants is best, Then in the spring plant your crops such as potatoes through the sheeting by cutting holes in it. You will find when the crop is removed the soil will be nice and clean with no couch grass.

Christmas Cactus or Schlumbergera
Normally start flowering in December and go on to the early spring. They can start in October if its was a plant purchased from a garden centre which has been forced into flower. Or the light conditions as in recent years in the autumn have been all over the place triggered flowering early. The key to getting it to flower next year is to be mean to it, feed it in the later winter with some liquid house plant food and do not feed it again then in October cut back on it watering and let it wilt a few times, this will trigger the formation of lots of new flower buds for next year, its a basic survival instinct all plant have but in Christmas cactus it seems to be extra strong.

1. if you are considering installing a drainage scheme in your garden the first item to address is how you remove the water from the garden. Its a point not many people consider or they figure they can get away by installing a soak away. A soak away is OK were the soil or sub soil is of such a structure were water will soak away over a few hours but in the case of a clay soil or a garden that floods its not going to help. The only choose is to connect your drainage system to an effective ditch or into the properties roof drainage system connecting to one of the houses down pipes through a silt trap to help prevent the system becoming blocked with silt.

2. The second key is that most garden drainage schemes are designed on an agricultural drainage system which are designed to allow the farmer to plough the area every year. In a garden situation with borders and lawns the drains often become capped and the water cannot reach the drain through an impervious soil layer often created by compaction. The answer is often to install sand slits which are designed to connect the surface with the drain even when the soil over the drain becomes compact.

For further advice on designing and installing a garden drainage scheme contact the GardenAdvice Team for advice and further information click here

Often in heavy snow falls one of the first plants that’s damaged is ceanothus, the structure of a ceanothus with regards to the stems and branches makes it easy for the snow to build up quickly and weigh the plant down often with the plant bending over. Normally this damage happens in the late winter when the flower buds although unseen are starting to form so pruning a damaged plant is best left until after flowering. Ideally you need to create a wigwam with three stakes that joint at the height of the ceanothus, then pull and tie the ceanothus back upright to these stakes. If any of the branches are broken you can prune then out or cut them back, but shaping is best left until later in the year when the ceanothus has flowered.

If you have a wet clay soil although its great for growing certain types of plants such as fast growing perennial plant such as Gunnera its not so good for a number of more delicate plants. One solution we often use is to create raised beds by adding grit sand and spent mushroom compost. Simply apply a layer and dig it into the existing soil to create a raised area, the area can in effect be a mound or it can be raised with a low wall created from stone or timber planks. The spent mushroom compost its great for breaking up clay soil as it contains lots of lime which breaks up the clay particles

Yellowing cherry laurel leaves on newly planted plants on last seasons growth tends to indicate that the plant has suffered a shock or being checked during the transplanting or planting. It could also be the shock of winter winds so in this case in the spring we recommend feeding all the plants now with a handful of growmore fertilizer around the base of each plant and as the spring season gets underway keep them well watered and they should grow away and recover.

Garlic seeds or bulbletts can be sown in pots to get them going and then you can plant them out later. Also when planting them in pots use a soil based potting compost such as John Iness seed compost. This is available from most garden centres. Using this type of compost tend to help when it come to transplanting as it tends not to break up when you remove the plant from the pot and so has less of a shocking effect on the plant.