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Q – Is there a way of quickly composting perennial weeds?

Anne – You can drown them in water until it has completely died and then compost it.Ìý I’ve got some Potentilla reptans at the moment – which came in on some bare-rooted gooseberries – and it’s an awful weed so I incinerate that actually.

Matt – You could dry them out in the sunshine first too.

James – I take mine to the council tip and they give me compost in return.

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Q – I would like to know what plants to grow in an exposed, north-Cornwall coastal garden in the colours of blue and white please.

Anne – You’ll need a windbreak – Olearia is a good choice, especially traversii (the ‘Daisy Bushes’).Ìý I’d then try Echinops – the ‘Globe Thistles’.Ìý On a smaller scale you could try ‘Cupid’s Dart’ – Catananche caerulea – as an annual.

James – Agave americana.

Matt – Agapanthus.Ìý Or the Eryngium – the ‘Sea Holly’; Eryngium bourgattii ‘Picos Blue’ is a good one.

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Q – What’s the point of raised beds?

Matt – One point is to avoid the natural growing conditions eg heavy clay.Ìý Also, as I get older it makes gardening easier as I don’t have to bend down as much.Ìý The soil warms up quicker in the Spring so it extends the growing season.Ìý

Anne – They suit the tidy-minded because they are neat.

James – They are great to increase productivity in small spaces.

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Q – My roses that were pruned in the autumn put on early growth but succumbed to wind burn.Ìý Can they be pruned back? I’m particularly worried about Floribundas.

James – I think the pruning has been done for you. Leave them to it. Avoid putting any fertiliser on now but maybe some later in the year.

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Q – How do I get rid of rampant, invasive bamboo without using chemicals?

James – Tricky.Ìý I’d hack it down to the ground two or three times in a year to drain its underground reserves of energy.Ìý It will eventually go.

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Q – I’ve been growing carrots at 900ft (275m) on Bodmin Moor and the last three years have been disastrous.Ìý They are thin and reedy and they get carrot fly.

Anne – It’s likely to be the bad summers that we’ve had

Matt – It might be worth starting them off in modules and then transplant them.Ìý Or plant smaller, round-rooted varieties like ‘Parmex’ round the outside of a pot and then planting them out.

James – Try switching to Bilberries – very similar but can’t be found in the supermarket.

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Q – How can I grow Lemon Verbena successfully?

Anne – Very easily I should think.Ìý Plant it into a container and have it outside on a patio for the summer – or in a greenhouse.Ìý Come the autumn you could either take cuttings and bring them into the greenhouse or dig up the plant, re-pot it and bring it in.Ìý Keep it frost free.Ìý Then back out on the patio in spring.Ìý

Q – My ‘Marjorie’ plum tree is now fifteen years old.Ìý It has been a good fruiter but has become rather straggly - should I prune? If so, when and how much?

Matt – End of July to end of August normally.Ìý I would thin it out rather than heavily prune.

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Q – What are the badgers looking for when they’re digging up my lawn?

Anne – Worms and grubs essentially.