Welcome to my potting shed! This is the column where I’ll share all my gardening hints and tips – and I’ll try to answer any queries you may have.

Q I’ve been given a bowl filled with indoor succulents. How often should I water them? – Catherine Pearson, Hamilton.

A Soak them thoroughly, tip out any excess water, then allow them to dry out completely before watering again.

Cut back any buddlejas and lavateras, taking back the main trunk to 25cm from the ground. They will soon regenerate.

Q Can I plant a shrub rose in the same spot where I took out a dead rose last year? – Colin Welsh, Newcastle.

A Yes, but only if you are willing to remove and replace at least a square metre of soil to rose replant disease from inhibiting growth. Sprinkling the roots of the new rose with mycorrhizal fungi before filling in the planting hole will help it to establish.

Remove perennial weeds with a long, slim hoe, severing as deeply as you can to remove as much of the root as possible.

Q I have grape hyacinths springing up all over my garden. How do I control them? – Lesley Sweeney, Cambuslang.

A Cut off this year’s flowers before they set seed and when you dig up rogue bulbs pass the soil through a riddle to catch all the tiny bulbs that will grow into more plants.

Feed daffodils in flower with liquid feed and keep feeding them fortnightly until the foliage has died down.

Q I’ve moved into a house with a stream, but the banks are covered in American skunk cabbage which I’d like to eradicate. – Chris Ewing, via email.

A American skunk cabbage is classified as an invasive, non-native plant and it is very difficult to remove without spreading it further. When digging it out, place netting across the flow of water to prevent rhizomes from floating downstream where they may root and establish into new clumps.

Pot up dahlia tubers and keep under glass under the frost danger passes.

Q I’m trying not to use so much plastic in the garden. Do you have any recommendations of alternatives for potting-on seedlings. – Katie Sinclair, Forfar.

A Coir pots and homemade pots, shaped from newspaper, are both viable options, however you may want to consider recycling old yoghurt pots and salad containers from the kitchen.

Make regular sowings of leaves and radishes to maintain a supply of fresh salads.