Quick QUESTIONS
Can I use wood and coal ash on vegetables?
Ross Richmond, by email There’ll be some beneficial potash from the wood ash but little if any nutritional value from the coal residue. I find that the best use for ash from the domestic fire grate is scattered around susceptible plants like lettuces as a slug deterrent.
The previous owners of our house let the dogs foul the lawn, should we take off the top layer of the grass?
Gillian Haworth, by email No, nothing so drastic is needed. The rain and weather will soon wash it into the soil. All organic matter is used up by the plants themselves and will vanish. My only word of caution would be that you shouldn’t let children play on it until the winter rains have done their work.
How can I protect my New Zealand flax plants and cordylines?
Donna Wells, by email
You don’t have a greenhouse so you ask how you can protect them as you live in the north and have been told the weather might be cold in the new year. The crown is the most vulnerable part so pack bracken or straw around here, then wrap and tie hessian around to keep it in place.
How can I prune my 2.1m tall yucca house plant?
Tamsin Ward, by email
You can’t, without spoiling the appearance of the plant if it only has one stem. If there are offsets – baby plants – at the base, you could remove these and pot them on to produce fresh plants. Alternatively, leave the babies and cut back the main stem. The plant will regrow from the sideshoots but, of course, it may look a bit unsightly until it does.