³ÉÈËÂÛ̳

Q – When are my potatoes ready for harvesting and can I leave them in the ground until I’m ready to use them?

Ìý

Bob - When you see the flowers that means the tubers are forming.Ìý Give them a good watering then.Ìý Just take what you need and you can leave them in the soil (though you do run the risk of blight and slug damage).

Ìý

Q – I inherited an Aspidistra from my great-grandmother and every year my sister takes a few leaves and sells them on.Ìý I only give the plant cold tea and neglect.Ìý How much longer will it continue?

Ìý

Bunny – You can bathe the leaves in milk and that perks them up.Ìý

Ìý

Matthew – They are also known as the Cast Iron plant, so they’re pretty tough.Ìý They are almost fully hardy.Ìý They like it almost pitch black, so keep them in the dark.Ìý They don’t mind dry soil so if you’ve got a Camellia or Rhododendron nearby that’s fine.

Ìý

Q – I recently bought a large, twenty-five-year-old Olive tree.Ìý I want to repot it.Ìý What size pot should I be looking at and how do I keep it over winter?Ìý It’s about 5ft (1.5m) tall.

Ìý

Matthew – This is Olea europaea.Ìý They are really tough so you shouldn’t worry in the winter.Ìý If temperature drops below -4C or -5C (24.8F or (23F) then consider insulating the pot with bubble wrap or fleece.Ìý

Ìý

Bunny – In Italy they often get -17C (1.4F) where the olives grow and they survive there

Ìý

Q – I have a strawberry patch with eight rows of strawberries.Ìý Over the past ten years my yield has been getting smaller and smaller.Ìý What is going wrong?

Ìý

Bob – Strawberries pick up a lot of virus diseases.Ìý Ten years isn’t a bad innings!

Ìý

Bunny – If you’re growing them in the same space the soil is going to be deficient of the nutrients that strawberries need.Ìý Think about moving them around.Ìý

Ìý

Q – About seven years ago I bought some hepatica seed and I’ve managed to get four or five plants (about 1ft (0.3m) diameter).Ìý I’ve got to move them; do you have any tips for doing this?

Ìý

Matthew – When lifting get as much root as possible and thin the foliage down.Ìý Keep it in the shade for the summer.Ìý

Ìý

Q – I am fascinated with Ginkgo trees (or Maidenhair).Ìý I want to plant a grove of them on the Welsh border but I can’t get the seeds to germinate.Ìý What can I do?

Ìý

Bob – Be patient; it can take a couple of years.Ìý I have a Yellow Comfrey and it never comes up the first year.Ìý Some seeds need smoking in order to germinate; you could try that.Ìý

Ìý

Bunny – You could try ‘layering’ a branch into the soil

Ìý

Matthew – There are some lovely forms of Ginkgo out there.Ìý I like ‘Princeton Sentry’.Ìý

Ìý

Q – My greenhouse is in a shady position under six Birch trees.Ìý What should I grow given the limited temperature range?

Ìý

Bunny – Your tomatoes will be slower but they will come.Ìý Do thin out the canopy.Ìý Use silver foil on the ground to bounce light up.Ìý Also, getting some cheap LED lights would make a huge difference.Ìý

Ìý

Matthew – Raise the crowns of the Birch; don’t chop from the top down

Ìý

Q – We have a twenty-year-old winter-flowering Cherry tree in our garden.Ìý It has a tendency to look shabby in the summer.Ìý Could I grow a rose up it?Ìý What else can I do to encourage it to look healthy?

Ìý

Bob – You hardly ever see an old Cherry tree so this isn’t in bad shape

Ìý

Bunny – I wouldn’t prune it.Ìý A rose might be too shaded under the canopy.Ìý Put a deciduous bark mulch around the base.Ìý

Ìý

Ìý