I have a fritillaria imperialis in a tub, soon after purchase and transfer the flowers died and the leaves are brown at the edges, can you suggest something please.

Answer

Fritillaria imperialis are bulbs and are prone to rotting off if they get too wet.

I would lift the plant, clean off any excess soil, place the bulb in dry sand or compost and keep in a cool, dry place. Allow the remaining leaves to die back and for the bulb to dry out.

In the autumn plant the bulb in a pot, with crocks in the bottom, using a sandy or gritty compost mix. Sit the bulb itself on a couple of inches of grit to ensure that the roots don’t sit in standing water and that the bulb stays dry throughout the winter. You will have to water the pot but make sure it doesn’t get too wet. In the spring the plant it should show new growth and eventually flower.

I hope it’s not too late to save this lovely plant but if it is you may be best buying fresh bulbs in the Autumn and following the advice above.

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I would like to know a weed killer that kills weeds on lawns but not the grass.

Answer:

There are several products available from garden centres or DIY stores such as B&Q. Here are a couple from Gardening Direct, click the links to find out more or to order online:

Verdone Extra Lawn Weedkiller - Weedkiller to control broad-leaved weeds in lawns without harming the grass. One treatment gives season long control and is effective on difficult to control weeds like White Clover, Lesser Trefoil and Black Medick as well as the more easily controlled Dandelion, Daisy, Plantain and Common Mouse Ear.

EverGreen Feed and Weed - This granular lawn feed includes weedkiller to keep your lawn healthy and looking good. Effective against a wide range of broad-leaved weeds.

• Low Maintenance Flower Beds - Our local council have decided to grass over four of the flower beds along our road due to cost cutting. They have said that they will consider alternative use of the beds i.e. monument or alternate designs. It has to be low maintenance and be appropriate for the seaside setting as the cliffs are about ...
• Black Bamboo – Phyllostachys nigra - I have a small garden and have recently purchased a black bamboo plant which is about 7 ft tall. I am aware that the plant can put out runners for some distance, and bamboos tend to be agressive. Would it be advisable to plant this bamboo with a barrier around it to prevent agressive spreading ...
• Moving Monkey Puzzle Tree - We have planted a monkey puzzle tree from a container it did not have very big roots but looked very healthy a couple of the bottom branches are dying but the rest looks ok can you give me any advice on growing and feeding my tree as I would hate to lose it. Share and Enjoy: ...
• Dying Laurels - In October last year I planted 300 Laurels, they looked very healthy and doing well, now I have noticed that some of the leaves are turning yellow and dropping off. Are they dying? Share and Enjoy: ...
• Wildflower Gardening - Every year I spend hundreds of pounds on my garden, and every year everything dies. I would like a wild flower garden, that will attract butterflies and bees, I have loads of elderberry trees behind my back fence, which hang over into my garden (which I like) they attract the birds, I would also like ...

In October last year I planted 300 Laurels, they looked very healthy and doing well, now I have noticed that some of the leaves are turning yellow and dropping off. Are they dying?

I spoke to the Garden Centre where I bought them , they told me they needed food , bone meal etc.

What do you think? they were expensive and I don't want them dying on me.

Answer:

Firstly you should ensure that the plants are getting enough water; check the soil around the roots and it they are dry give them a good watering and continue to water until you see an improvement. Don't overwater, you don't want them sitting in puddles. Feeding will be required on a regular basis, usually in Spring and again in Autumn, you can use bone meal or a general fertiliser if you prefer. Finally the plants could have a magnesium deficiency so do a one off treatment of Epsom salts which you can get from the garden centre; just follow the instructions on the box.

I hope this helps and that your very expensive hedge survives.

• Moving Monkey Puzzle Tree - We have planted a monkey puzzle tree from a container it did not have very big roots but looked very healthy a couple of the bottom branches are dying but the rest looks ok can you give me any advice on growing and feeding my tree as I would hate to lose it. Share and Enjoy: ...
• Wildflower Gardening - Every year I spend hundreds of pounds on my garden, and every year everything dies. I would like a wild flower garden, that will attract butterflies and bees, I have loads of elderberry trees behind my back fence, which hang over into my garden (which I like) they attract the birds, I would also like ...
• Fritillaria Imperialis - I have a fritillaria imperialis in a tub, soon after purchase and transfer the flowers died and the leaves are brown at the edges, can you suggest something please. Share and Enjoy: ...
• Low Maintenance Flower Beds - Our local council have decided to grass over four of the flower beds along our road due to cost cutting. They have said that they will consider alternative use of the beds i.e. monument or alternate designs. It has to be low maintenance and be appropriate for the seaside setting as the cliffs are about ...
• Clay Soil - I have very bad soil that is impossible to dig, it has a lot of clay in it. How can I break this down and make the soil soft and ready to plant. I am not frightened of a bit of hard work. Share and Enjoy: ...

Does "sharp sand" have a place in the garden?

Answer:

Sharp sand is used to improve drainage by either digging it directly into the soil or by mixing with compost when planting in containers.
It is also used in building works; mixing with concrete etc.

However, it shouldn't be used in childrens' play areas; there are special "safe" sands for this use.

• Clay Soil - I have very bad soil that is impossible to dig, it has a lot of clay in it. How can I break this down and make the soil soft and ready to plant. I am not frightened of a bit of hard work. Share and Enjoy: ...
• Fritillaria Imperialis - I have a fritillaria imperialis in a tub, soon after purchase and transfer the flowers died and the leaves are brown at the edges, can you suggest something please. Share and Enjoy: ...
• Moving Monkey Puzzle Tree - We have planted a monkey puzzle tree from a container it did not have very big roots but looked very healthy a couple of the bottom branches are dying but the rest looks ok can you give me any advice on growing and feeding my tree as I would hate to lose it. Share and Enjoy: ...
• Wildflower Gardening - Every year I spend hundreds of pounds on my garden, and every year everything dies. I would like a wild flower garden, that will attract butterflies and bees, I have loads of elderberry trees behind my back fence, which hang over into my garden (which I like) they attract the birds, I would also like ...
• Black Bamboo – Phyllostachys nigra - I have a small garden and have recently purchased a black bamboo plant which is about 7 ft tall. I am aware that the plant can put out runners for some distance, and bamboos tend to be agressive. Would it be advisable to plant this bamboo with a barrier around it to prevent agressive spreading ...

Answer:
All trees and shrubs take time to get established following a move, as long as you are keeping it well watered it should be OK.

However, the monkey puzzle trees like full sun and well-drained soil so check that it isn't sitting in water and move it to a sunny area if it isn't located in one currently.

The monkey puzzle tree is slow growing but can eventually grow to a height of 60-70ft and a width of 30-35ft so may eventually outgrow your garden. I know you've only just moved it out of a container but it may be better to grow it in a pot but the pot needs to be of considerable size in order for the tree to reach it's full potential. Make sure you feed it regularly with a general feed such as pelleted chicken manure and mulch the surface with some well rotted organic matter such as manure. If it out grows its pot, wait until the autumn then re-pot in a large pot with plenty of drainage holes. Add some crocks or broken clay pots into the bottom to help drainage and to help stop it falling over, then fill with a good quality compost. Add a general feed such as pelleted chicken manure and mulch the surface with some well rotted organic matter such as manure. Each year you should top up the compost level, feed and add more organic matter.

If you do want to keep it in the ground keep it well watered during the first year and feed and mulch in the autumn.

• Clay Soil - I have very bad soil that is impossible to dig, it has a lot of clay in it. How can I break this down and make the soil soft and ready to plant. I am not frightened of a bit of hard work. Share and Enjoy: ...
• Wildflower Gardening - Every year I spend hundreds of pounds on my garden, and every year everything dies. I would like a wild flower garden, that will attract butterflies and bees, I have loads of elderberry trees behind my back fence, which hang over into my garden (which I like) they attract the birds, I would also like ...
• Black Bamboo – Phyllostachys nigra - I have a small garden and have recently purchased a black bamboo plant which is about 7 ft tall. I am aware that the plant can put out runners for some distance, and bamboos tend to be agressive. Would it be advisable to plant this bamboo with a barrier around it to prevent agressive spreading ...
• Sharp Sand - Does “sharp sand” have a place in the garden? Share and Enjoy: ...
• Fritillaria Imperialis - I have a fritillaria imperialis in a tub, soon after purchase and transfer the flowers died and the leaves are brown at the edges, can you suggest something please. Share and Enjoy: ...

Our local council have decided to grass over four of the flower beds along our road due to cost cutting. They have said that they will consider alternative use of the beds i.e. monument or alternate designs. It has to be low maintenance and be appropriate for the seaside setting as the cliffs are about 200yards away. Can you offer any design ideas or websites that I can use to get advice.

Answer:

Hello, thank you for your email. What a shame you council have decided to remove the flower beds. However, I think one solution that would work well in terms of location and minimal maintenance is to produce gravel gardens. Basically they can remove existing planting and check that the soil is sandy and free draining, if not they can mix in a good quantity of gravel. Add sheets of weed suppressing membrane then top off with gravel and some decorative boulders, stones, driftwood etc. For planting they should use grasses as they will look good for most of the year and only need cutting back once a year, usually in the spring.

I suppose if this is thought to be too much maintenance they can just plant one or two (depending on the size of the beds) pampas grasses in each bed. They require little or no maintenance and can be quite impressive when in full flower.

Another idea, although not exactly coastal in design is to use prostrate woody plants such as Cotoneaster horizontalis, Cotoneaster dammeri, Pyracantha (instead of training it against a wall let it spread along the ground). These plants will soon cover a large area and once establish require no maintenance at all. If a weed suppressing membrane is laid before planting then the weeds should be kept away until the plants establish. An added bonus is that the berries in autumn will feed the local garden birds and the flowers in spring attract butterflies and bees. The links are to Crocus.co.uk to show you what the plants look like.

• Clay Soil - I have very bad soil that is impossible to dig, it has a lot of clay in it. How can I break this down and make the soil soft and ready to plant. I am not frightened of a bit of hard work. Share and Enjoy: ...
• Lawn Weedkiller - I would like to know a weed killer that kills weeds on lawns but not the grass. Share and Enjoy: ...
• Wildflower Gardening - Every year I spend hundreds of pounds on my garden, and every year everything dies. I would like a wild flower garden, that will attract butterflies and bees, I have loads of elderberry trees behind my back fence, which hang over into my garden (which I like) they attract the birds, I would also like ...
• Dying Laurels - In October last year I planted 300 Laurels, they looked very healthy and doing well, now I have noticed that some of the leaves are turning yellow and dropping off. Are they dying? Share and Enjoy: ...
• Fritillaria Imperialis - I have a fritillaria imperialis in a tub, soon after purchase and transfer the flowers died and the leaves are brown at the edges, can you suggest something please. Share and Enjoy: ...

I have a small garden and have recently purchased a black bamboo plant which is about 7 ft tall. I am aware that the plant can put out runners for some distance, and bamboos tend to be agressive. Would it be advisable to plant this bamboo with a barrier around it to prevent agressive spreading and could this barrier be a plastic container which is about 3 inches larger in circumference. I will puncture holes in the base of the container in order to provide drainage and will use stable manure compost.

Answer:

I assume your black bamboo is Phyllostachys nigra, if so you are correct that it will "run" once planted. Your method is indeed correct but to help I have found a great article from the RHS which tells you how to deal with all bamboo plants http://www.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/profile.aspx?PID=79.

Don't worry that the stems grow green at first, once they mature they will turn black. These bamboo also like to be in direct sun.

• Clay Soil - I have very bad soil that is impossible to dig, it has a lot of clay in it. How can I break this down and make the soil soft and ready to plant. I am not frightened of a bit of hard work. Share and Enjoy: ...
• Wildflower Gardening - Every year I spend hundreds of pounds on my garden, and every year everything dies. I would like a wild flower garden, that will attract butterflies and bees, I have loads of elderberry trees behind my back fence, which hang over into my garden (which I like) they attract the birds, I would also like ...
• Moving Monkey Puzzle Tree - We have planted a monkey puzzle tree from a container it did not have very big roots but looked very healthy a couple of the bottom branches are dying but the rest looks ok can you give me any advice on growing and feeding my tree as I would hate to lose it. Share and Enjoy: ...
• Lawn Weedkiller - I would like to know a weed killer that kills weeds on lawns but not the grass. Share and Enjoy: ...
• Dying Laurels - In October last year I planted 300 Laurels, they looked very healthy and doing well, now I have noticed that some of the leaves are turning yellow and dropping off. Are they dying? Share and Enjoy: ...

I have very bad soil that is impossible to dig, it has a lot of clay in it. How can I break this down and make the soil soft and ready to plant. I am not frightened of a bit of hard work.

Answer:

The only way to improve the structure of heavy clay soil is to add well rotted manure. To do this effectively you should double dig the whole area adding the manure as you go. Here's a link to my soil page which tells you the best way to carry out the digging http://gardeningregister.co.uk/NonProductPages/Articles/soil.htm. Even after you have done this work the soil may not be as good as you'd like but you should be good enough for new plants to survive. Each autumn you should add a good layer of manure onto the surface of the soil and let the worms take it down into the lower layers. Do this for a few years and you should end up with great soil.

If the garden gets waterlogged you would be wise to add a good amount of gravel while digging, this will help the drainage.

• Wildflower Gardening - Every year I spend hundreds of pounds on my garden, and every year everything dies. I would like a wild flower garden, that will attract butterflies and bees, I have loads of elderberry trees behind my back fence, which hang over into my garden (which I like) they attract the birds, I would also like ...
• Moving Monkey Puzzle Tree - We have planted a monkey puzzle tree from a container it did not have very big roots but looked very healthy a couple of the bottom branches are dying but the rest looks ok can you give me any advice on growing and feeding my tree as I would hate to lose it. Share and Enjoy: ...
• Low Maintenance Flower Beds - Our local council have decided to grass over four of the flower beds along our road due to cost cutting. They have said that they will consider alternative use of the beds i.e. monument or alternate designs. It has to be low maintenance and be appropriate for the seaside setting as the cliffs are about ...
• Sharp Sand - Does “sharp sand” have a place in the garden? Share and Enjoy: ...
• Black Bamboo – Phyllostachys nigra - I have a small garden and have recently purchased a black bamboo plant which is about 7 ft tall. I am aware that the plant can put out runners for some distance, and bamboos tend to be agressive. Would it be advisable to plant this bamboo with a barrier around it to prevent agressive spreading ...

Every year I spend hundreds of pounds on my garden, and every year everything dies. I would like a wild flower garden, that will attract butterflies and bees, I have loads of elderberry trees behind my back fence, which hang over into my garden (which I like) they attract the birds, I would also like to put up some bird boxes. I would also like to grow my own vegetables and fruit.

Answer:

If you plants keep dying then I would normally suggest soil improvement. However if you wish to have a wild flower garden then a poor, less fertile soil is needed. Here are a couple of links to articles from the RHS about starting a wildflower meadow and maintaining it going forward.
http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profiles1200/wildflower_meadow.asp
http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profiles0600/wildflower.asp

I see you are from Liverpool. The National Wildflower Centre is Court Hey Park, Roby Road, L16 3NA not far from junction 4 of the M62. Here you can find everything you want to about wildflowers and even buy plants and seeds. The website is http://www.nwc.org.uk/

I have also found a company which sells Wildflower turf http://www.wildflowerturf.co.uk/index.htm an easy and quick way to get a wildflower meadow.

The elderberry trees sound great and will indeed attract lots of birds and the flowers will attract butterflies. There are lots of difference types of bird boxes you can put up to attract different types of birds. Have a look at my bird houses page for more information http://gardeningregister.co.uk/NonProductPages/Articles/Birds/Houses.htm

As for the vegetables and fruit. I would suggest building or buying a few raised beds and filling them with good quality compost mixed with well rotted manure. Place them in a sunny position where you can get to them easily. Your wild flowers could be planted around them so that you don't loose too much ground. Here are links to my veg and fruit pages to help you. http://www.gardeningregister.co.uk/NonProductPages/Articles/vegetables.htm, http://www.gardeningregister.co.uk/NonProductPages/Articles/Fruit.htm.

• Clay Soil - I have very bad soil that is impossible to dig, it has a lot of clay in it. How can I break this down and make the soil soft and ready to plant. I am not frightened of a bit of hard work. Share and Enjoy: ...
• Low Maintenance Flower Beds - Our local council have decided to grass over four of the flower beds along our road due to cost cutting. They have said that they will consider alternative use of the beds i.e. monument or alternate designs. It has to be low maintenance and be appropriate for the seaside setting as the cliffs are about ...
• Fritillaria Imperialis - I have a fritillaria imperialis in a tub, soon after purchase and transfer the flowers died and the leaves are brown at the edges, can you suggest something please. Share and Enjoy: ...
• Lawn Weedkiller - I would like to know a weed killer that kills weeds on lawns but not the grass. Share and Enjoy: ...
• Black Bamboo – Phyllostachys nigra - I have a small garden and have recently purchased a black bamboo plant which is about 7 ft tall. I am aware that the plant can put out runners for some distance, and bamboos tend to be agressive. Would it be advisable to plant this bamboo with a barrier around it to prevent agressive spreading ...