HELEN YEMM THORNY PROBLEMS

This week: a ‘florist’s hydrangea’ without a flower, how to use different composts, and darkness falls in the bathroom

I have a white hydrangea in a pot that flowered last year but has only produced a lot of foliage and no flowers this year. I now want to plant it in my garden. When would be the best time to do this, now or in the spring? And should I cut it back or leave it to die back naturally?

JENIFER HENRY – VIA EMAIL

You don’t say, but I suspect that this is what I call a “florist’s hydrangea”, one that was forced into flower at the “wrong” time of year and sold as an exotic houseplant. These plants, their horticultural clocks all at sixes and sevens, often end as desiccated wrecks tucked behind a dustbin. If I am right, you have done well to get it this far, but I am not surprised it has not flowered. Indeed it may make a decent garden plant.

Whether I am right or wrong, plant it now, while the soil is warm. Improve the soil where you intend to plant by adding some compost and a little bonemeal, and water the planting hole (the soil will still be dry after the summer heat) and also water the plant itself before you firm it in.

Water again and add more compost as a mulch. Do not cut the plant back – there is a chance it will have sorted itself out, and it may flower next year on the shoots it made this year.

A year after installing compost bins, my first batch is ready to be spread. My bin of leaves (about the same quantity) is now well-rotted mould, and I also have some well-rotted manure in plastic sacks, about nine months old. I have heavy clay soil. How best shall I use these resources?

MALCOLM BAUCHER – VIA EMAIL

Of the three, the last-mentioned muck in sacks is probably the

TIP OF THE WEEK

richest, likely to be dark and fine by now (rather than fresh manure, which is light coloured, straw-y and pongy and needs to age before it comes into contact with plants). It is good, therefore, either as a surface mulch for greedier plants – roses, clematis and so on (although a few rogue grass seeds may show up) – or to dig in as a powerful soil improver.

The home-made compost, though not as rich, similarly makes a good soil improver, but you should be aware that it is unlikely, after only a year, to be totally seed-free, since domestic bins rarely build up the necessary heat to kill everything off. It will, however, still be pretty coarse and bulky, which is just what your clay soil needs. So, if you are intending to do any deep digging to improve veg or flower beds, I would

get this in under everything else to help break down the clay.

Leaf mould is low in nutrients, but once in the soil it breaks down to form humus, which is vital for soil health and plant growth. It is also almost weed-free and is therefore a useful potting mix ingredient. This also makes excellent moisture-retaining mulching material.

LIFE FORCEMost plants prefer plenty of natural light to thrive