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Q – How do the panel keep up their spirits in winter – when it’s cold, rainy, and foggy?

Bob – The whole reason for having a greenhouse or a tunnel is for the gardener not the plants!

Bunny – I like to plan a new project for the coming year based on what I got wrong in the previous one

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Q – I have inherited a small lawn in need of some TLC. I have a Jack Russell and a cat – what could I do to improve the lawn without using chemicals?

Matthew – Ideally you’d start in spring with some vigorous raking/scarifying to get the dead thatch (dead grass build up) out.Ìý Thatch stops water getting to the roots and it reduces the lawn’s capacity to absorb nutrients – so get rid of that.Ìý Next, over seed the area – use sand and soil.Ìý If the area is poorly drained you need to aerate with a fork.Ìý

Bob – Pee in the watering can! It’ll make the grass greener!

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Q – I was told that club root can found be on wallflower seeds??

Bob – This disease is normally spread by plants and not by seeds.Ìý Or the commonest way it spreads is people walking with it on their boots from garden to garden.Ìý If you are buying in Brassicas then make sure they are grown in proper compost pots rather than in the soil.

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Q – If you were building a new greenhouse, what would be the main priorities? I’m thinking of about 10’ x 14’ (3m x 4.2m)

Bunny – Appearance is quite important.Ìý I did a stone base and then used reclaimed windows.Ìý Capillary matting is useful so that you only have to water once a week. I can open it to the outside at both ends to get good ventilation through if needed.Ìý A heated bench is great to enable all-year growing.Ìý LED lights are good, too.

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Q – I garden on soil that is boulder clay with chalk and flint stones over chalk base.Ìý I have added leaf mould to the soil that I use to lighten the land and help with water retention.Ìý Is the soil too acid for Brassicas or do I need to add lime? And, if so, would the treatment make the ground too loose for them?

Bob – Our rain is often very acidic and washes the lime through so I am an advocate of liming.Ìý If the clay is grey that shows it’s waterlogged and tends to be more acidic.Ìý If it’s red it shows that air is getting to it and it’s more permeable.Ìý If you’ve got chalk underneath I would say your soil is probably neutral – if you’re struggling with Brassicas it’s more likely you’re in need of nitrogen.

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Q – I’ve got several Moth Orchids that I’ve been growing for several years – they have been flowering well every year. But this year the leaves started to turn a coppery-brown colour before dropping off.Ìý One of the plants ended up with one leaf left.Ìý They still flower and produce new leaves but I wonder what the problem was.

Matthew – Orchids do lose and re-grow leaves as part of their regeneration cycle.Ìý The colour aspect I haven’t come across before but it could be down to a sudden temperature change.Ìý I would say that you don’t need to worry too much.

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Q – The big problem in our garden is my enthusiasm in cutting things back/down. How can I learn when to stop?

Bob – Get a wood burner and then spend all your energy cutting logs rather than plants/trees

BunnyÌý - You need an Austrian Scythe and get out and scythe your lawn

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Q – We have an old hotbed in our garden but it’s got no top and I’d like to know what we can do with it? It’s about 15’ x 6’ (4.5m x 1.8m)

Matthew – Hotbeds are used to generate heat from muck/organic matter to force a crop such as a pineapple.Ìý

Bunny – It looks to me more like a cold frame – used as a halfway house between greenhouse and garden.

Bob – I think you’re better off using it as a cold frame - using hot water bottles and blankets over the top you can get things a month earlier than normal with little effort.Ìý Things like watermelons and melons become much easier to grow.

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