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? 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