Quick QUESTIONS
How can I avoid split tomatoes next year?
Janet Hewitt, by email Many readers have written to me about this. It was caused by uneven watering, which was almost unavoidable in the heat of the summer. One way to prevent this is to construct a gravel bed in the greenhouse and grow your plants by ring culture. There will be a reservoir of water in the bed, which will make for a much more uniform water supply to the plants.
What shrubs and perennials do you suggest I plant in my new, bare garden now that will grow quickly and give bright flowers in spring?
Gillian Walker, by email No plants, of course, will grow much during the winter so you should buy the largest specimens you can afford. Some good early shrubs are winter jasmine, forsythia, mahonia, many willows and chaenomeles. Visit your garden centre in the month you want flowers and see what’s in bloom.
Will lawn fertiliser harm the foxes and badgers that come into my garden?
Sarah Shaw, by email
I think it’s unlikely, although I advise keeping pets off newly treated lawns. But if you can apply the feed shortly before it rains, so much the better.
Glyphosate isn’t working on bindweed, so can I dig it out?
Nigel Scott-Smith, by Facebook
Yes, but only if your soil is light and you take a long time doing it very carefully. It can work. But on a heavy soil, stick with a glyphosatecontaining weedkiller every fortnight in warm, dry weather during the summer. Many people say glyphosate hasn’t worked, but this is because they haven’t done repeat applications or they haven’t applied it in hot, dry weather.