主播大秀

Q 鈥� Will several ants鈥� nests in a greenhouse cause any problems to crops?

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Christine 鈥� No.听 They might move soil from the root system but other than that, no.

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Q 鈥� My daughter had a Bamboo that she鈥檚 dug up. But it鈥檚 still coming up. She doesn鈥檛 want to use weed killer 鈥� what can we do?

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Matthew 鈥� Best thing to do, rather than dig, is to pull off the root as aggressively as possible, because the snapping action will discourage regrowth.听 This method will either kill it or cause millions of offshoots. It鈥檚 a 50/50!

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Q 鈥� What would the panel recommend that I could plant in a bed that never sees any sunshine?

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Matthew 鈥� What you can get is lots of interesting foliage rather than flowering plants.听 For example: Pulmonaria 鈥楤lue Ensign鈥�.听 I grow that with Dryopteris erythrosora, a tolerant fern. Matteuccia struthiopteris (鈥楾he Shuttlecock鈥� fern) 鈥� a fern that鈥檚 good in wet shade.听 Deschampsia cespitosa 鈥� native grass.听

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Christine 鈥� Rheum palmatum.听 Many of the Heucheras will do well.听 Ligularias come to mind 鈥� they won鈥檛 flower as well but the foliage will look good.听

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Q 鈥� I planted a Bramley apple tree 35 years ago and it鈥檚 now making a lot of growth going straight up from the centre.听 It competes with a nearby Field Maple.听 I鈥檇 like to take centre out of it 鈥� can I do this or is the tree too old?

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Christine 鈥� I would selectively prune it 鈥� nice and slowly.听 Take out a third of the centre each year, over three years, to open it gradually.听 If you really clout it it will produce water shoots ie non-fruiting shoots.听

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Q 鈥� I recently bought a lovely Hebe called 鈥楶urple Shamrock鈥� which is described as a new 鈥渟port鈥� of the Hebe 鈥楳rs Winder鈥�.听 What is a 鈥渟port鈥�?

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Christine 鈥� A 鈥渟port鈥� is where you have a mutation of growth caused by physical damage, or genetic interference, sometimes growing conditions.听 And all it is is a change in characteristic from the original plant.听 Quite a lot of our popular Chrysanthemum varieties are sports and they will come true if you propagate them; some others won鈥檛.

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Matthew 鈥� If you look at the 鈥楲awson鈥檚 cypresses鈥� they are all sports taken from cuttings from different parts of the plant.听 Lawson鈥檚 arrow is taken from the top of the plant; Lawson鈥� bun is from towards the bottom.听 I was going to retire on the very contorted 鈥渟ports鈥� of Taxus baccata or 鈥楥ommon Yew鈥欌�� but unfortunately the contortion was just caused by Bindweed.

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Q 鈥� Our Lavender hedges are heavily infested with Lavender or Rosemary beetles and I鈥檇 like to know if there is a bee-friendly control for this pest?听

Pippa 鈥� I would recommend that physical picking off is the best method for getting rid of them. Sorry!

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Christine 鈥� Put yellow sticky traps under the plants, then when you give the plant a whack the beetles will fall off and you can take them away.

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Q 鈥� Could the panel suggest what we could plant for minimal maintenance, all year round interest, and maximum interest in the Braintree and Bocking Public garden of 24m square.听

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Matthew 鈥� I would focus on one big, impressive blast per season. Summer 鈥� really good repeat-flowering Rose. So for yellow go for a 鈥楶ort Sunlight鈥�; white go for 鈥榃inchester Cathedral鈥� or 鈥楬yde Hall鈥�.听 Autumn 鈥� a nice clump of Euonymus alatus 鈥楥ompactus鈥�.听 Spring 鈥� lots of bulbs.听 Winter 鈥� I would go for orange 鈥楳idwinter Fire鈥� (Cornus sanguinea) or 鈥榃inter Bonfire鈥�.听

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Pippa 鈥� I would stick to miniature bulbs in Spring 鈥� classic yellows like 鈥楾ete-a-Tete鈥�, 鈥楴arcissus鈥� 鈥� to reduce maintenance. Herbaceous perennials like Herbaceous Geraniums in and amongst them would be good too. Also, try and get some Snowdrops and Crocuses in there if you can.听

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Christine 鈥� Sheets of Cyclamen coum (Spring) and sheets of Cyclamen hederifolium (Autumn) 鈥� but don鈥檛 put them together as the hederifolium will choke the coum.听 For bulbs go for the Scillas, the Puschkinias, the Anemones, the Eranthises 鈥� all great plants.听 For berries go for Viburnum opulus 鈥楥ompactum鈥�.听

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Q 鈥� I am very fond of Florence Fennel but all attempts to grow it have failed.听 Should it be possible or should I give up?

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Christine 鈥� I鈥檝e never been successful but I鈥檓 on a very light, alluvial loam and I think it prefers heavier soil.听 It needs an early start and can take two/three years to build to a reasonable size.听 It doesn鈥檛 really like dryness at first too.听 I鈥檝e tried pot and garden.

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