Q Why don’t my healthy sacred bamboo plants fower and set fruit?
Lynne Dersley, by email
MATT SAYS Sacred bamboo (Nandina domestica) needs a sheltered spot in moist but freedraining soil in sun or light shade.
Mulch the soil around your plant with well-rotted organic matter like garden compost each year.
When planting in borders on heavier soils, add some well-rotted compost to the backfill and a layer of grit in the base of the hole to improve drainage, as bamboo plants dislike waterlogging over winter. Improve flowering with a regular feed of tomato fertiliser.
Some varieties, such as Nandina domestica ‘Obsessed’, admired for its rich-red spring foliage, produce flowers, but not berries.