Top five garden gripes
THE MOST COMMON READERS’ QUESTIONS GET AN EXPERT ANSWER
THROUGHOUT the year, I find myself answering the same queries, again and again, whether from new gardeners I meet out and about, or from you, the readers writing in. So this week I’m sharing with you the top five most frequently asked – with, of course, the answers!
WHEB SHOULD I PRUNE MY HYDRANGEA?
Broadly speaking, there are two different types of hydrangea which need treating slightly differently. The old-fashioned hydrangea that everyone’s granny grew in the garden, which comes in pinks and blues, are hydrangea macrophylla.
They flower on growth made in the previous season, so if you are too keen pruning them in spring, you’ll lose all the flowers.
The trick here is to thin out the oldest stems and allow new ones to take their place, leaving some of last year’s growth to ensure flowers.
The other types are paniculata or arborescens – Limelight and Annabelle being the two most common respectively.
They tend to be white to lime green, or soft pink. They flower on growth made in this growing season so can be pruned as much or as little as you like. Ideally, prune to the same framework every year once they establish.
IS WEED MEMBRANE ANY GOOD?
There is no doubt that it’s effective and in certain situations it can be useful. However, as a rule I don’t use it for a variety of reasons.
Firstly, it tends to trap moisture and air, so the soil below it often goes stale. It doesn’t help with the earthworm population and is a real pain to plant into.
And then, once the mulch layer you have covered it with degrades or gets old, the plastic is exposed, which isn’t the most attractive.
But I would recommend using it for paths and large areas of weeds you need to control, such as in a vegetable garden.
HOW DO I GET RID OF MOSS ON MY LAWN?
Why do you want to? I would be happy to leave it be as it’s often a result of compacted soil and poor light which aren’t always problems we can easily deal with in the garden. However, I do understand that people love their lawns. As a result, this is probably the most frequently asked gardening question of all time. Moss loves the climate of these islands – damp and often wet. Couple this with shade, and you have moss nirvana.
So first try to address these problems. If the area often gets wet, consider drainage. If it’s very dark, maybe you need to allow more light in.
Even if you have perfect conditions, you’ll still get moss as we tend to cut our lawns to the same level and they shed bits of dead leaves occasionally and create shade for moss to thrive on.
You can kill moss with a variety of products, but I don’t favour the use of chemicals so go for organic alternatives where possible.
Sulphate of iron is effective at killing the moss, but once it’s dead and blackened you need to remove it, using a strong leaf rake.
The lawn will look terrible for a while, but if you do this in April as the lawn begins to grow it will soon recover.
WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO KEEP APHIDS AT BAY?
Aphids can cause real problems when growth begins in spring, sucking sap and often overwhelming plants as they reproduce incredibly quickly.
There are many products available which will kill them, but as I prefer to garden organically, the best way I’ve found to control them is by spraying infected plants with soapy water.
Simply put a few drops of washing-up liquid into a spray container and then fill with water. Give this a good shake and spray directly on to the infected leaves.
If the infestation is heavy, it may be an idea to spray the plant with a hose first to knock off the worst of the aphids.
WHY IS MY PLUM TREE NOT FRUITING?
Plums and a lot of fruit trees often have off years. Older varieties tend to have glut years followed by one or sometimes even two with little or no fruit. So patience is the first bit of advice.
Choosing a good reliable variety is the other key point.
Also, if you get a late frost when the blooms are out, the flowers can be destroyed before they get a chance to be pollinated in order to set fruit.