Potting Shed

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.

I planted a Clematis montana to grow against my shed, but in recent years all the flowers have been up at roof level. How do I persuade it to start blooming further down again? – K Liddell, Torrance

Wait until this year’s flowers have faded and then cut the stems back almost to the base. In future prune back annually to keep it in check. Forsythia flowers at a time when there’s not much else in bloom, but its yellow tones are very harsh. Does it come in any other colours? – Peter Wheeler, by email

Some varieties of forsythia are brighter than others, but all of them are a fairly strident yellow. As an alternative, look for white-flowered Abeliophyllum distichum which appears at the same time and is similar in habit.

How quickly can I get a crop from salad leaves? – Kyle Sharp, Bathgate

Sow some now on a bright window sill and you could be cropping baby leaves in as little as three weeks. Keep sowing small amounts regularly for a succession of pickings.

Can I grow potatoes using the ones I buy in the supermarket? – Jack Cummings, Largs The varieties sold in supermarkets are not always suitable for growing here. Also seed potatoes have to be screened for diseases which, although not harmful to humans, could spread to commercial crops.

My evergreen azalea has lots of dead branches. Is there something wrong with it? – Linda Freeman, Renfrew

As they mature, some of the branches of evergreen azaleas die off. This is quite natural and you can simply prune them back to the main trunk to tidy them up.