Phil McCann spring gardening Q&A

mollie

I have a border that is currently looking lovely, full of spring flowers and a few small evergreens but in a while it will look bare. It's small (only about 15' x 3'), the front slope of a tier and fairly shallow so drains quickly. Any suggestions for planting that will fill the gap until the bulbs arrive again? Apart from the bulbs nothing really seems to survive there for long.

Dear mollie,
many thanks for emailing in your question – good to be the first ( but thankfully there is now a list!) It's great you have actually done what a lot of gardeners forget and that’s to plant bulbs. But there are a couple of things I would suggest to fill that gap until they come back again. The first are annuals. These are easy to grow plants that grow, flower and then die all I the same year. In fact, the first ones are usually flowering two months after sowing. And because they are so fast at growing they are relatively relaxed about the conditions. Buy yourself a packet of mixed annual seeds. Shake the packet to mix the seeds and sow onto the surface of soil. The soil needs to be level, free of stones and other lumps. Once sown simply press the seeds into the surface with the back of a spade and voilà – stand back and wait. You won;t be disappointed. The other plant I love planting is periwinkle. It can be a bit of a thug but is easily trimmed back and seems to able to grow virtually anywhere. The leaves are lovely and glossy green ad the flowers can be shades of blue or there is a smashing white variety. Hope that helps – to be honest I did the annual sowing last year and produced the best dispaly I ever have with the least amount of effort or cost!

alchemillamollis

Given the peculiar winter weather we had this year, what is the apple and pear crop likely to be - better, or worse?

Hoping for better.

Dear alchemillamollis,
I know it's been dreadful over winter – devastating to some – but fruit trees, being dormant over winter, are resolute and will survive. What always concerns me though is a nasty frost when all the blossom is out. This can damage the flowers and also put bees off from doing their pollination duties. So what we need is a gently warming spring without any snap cold spells. Looking out now it is rainy but the forecast says it is warming up over the weekend. This will encourage many of the earlier trees into blossom, and the bees are already active ( and a few butterflies too) so fingers crossed all will be well in the fruit world. Later frosts are the one's to watch out for. Hopefully they won't strike. By the way I love your 'name' – nothing the weather can do will damage alchemilla!

credlandjohn

We have a red robin bush. This year the leaves have turned red but also have black spots on them and a large number of leaves have fallen off.
What will have csused this and is there a cure / solution to the problem. Previous year the bush has appeared ok

Dear credlandjohn,
It's so frustrating when plants do this kind of thing. Photinia Red Robin is a gorgeous shrub, ever so tough with new leaves coming out in a coppery colour turning red with time (and then green) The frost can damage the new growth ( especially on any plants that may have been grown by nurseries under glass or polythene – so ask if you are buying one in the next few weeks) but that hasn’t caused your plants problems. A few leaves dropping off is a natural occurrence and nothing to worry about. However, if the plant jettisons all its leaves then do worry! Photinia Red Robin will grow well in most soils, isn't too fussy about sun or part shade and usually only needs a trim in summer ( but not after September as the new growth it produces may get damaged by autumn frosts) . However, it is susceptible to photinia leaf spot. It's not a disease or pest but is brought on by a physiological condition. I wonder if the plant has been waterlogged, blasted by cold winds ( spring was miserable last year) or even frosted late in spring last year? I think you are seeing the effects of that rubbish spring in 2013. I reckon the way forward is to prune the plant to encourage new shoots ( maybe wait a few weeks and keep an eye on the weather forecast – a blanket of horticultural fleece will see it through the coldest nights if we have any) and a feed with a general purpose fertiliser has to help. This will get the plant invigorated. If it is moveable have a think about planting it near a sheltered wall or fence. It's worth trying that credlandjohn because as you know, a Red Robin in its full glory is a fantastic sight. Hope that helps and good luck!

Dynasty

I have just potted up some dahlia corms. As I am new to growing dahlias could you give me some advice about when to plant them out and how to care for them please?

Dear Dynasty,
I've just done the same! Yesterday I potted up a couple of whopping dahlia tubers I lifted last autumn and had a couple of new ones from the garden centre that were already beginning to grow. I lined a wooden fruit and veg box I got for free from the supermarket with newspaper and filled it with multipurpose compost. I then nuzzled the tubers into the compost and lightly sprayed over with water. Then, in the absence of a much needed greenhouse and one I am saving up for, I put the box in the garage near to the window. This keeps the frost of the tubers, and encourages the shoots to grow. Once the danger of frost has gone they can go out into the garden. Now, I only do this because the tubers were already shooting – if the tubers are dormant they can be kept cool before planting straight out into the soil. But again, if the shoots pop up and there is a sharp frost then its curtains for the dahlias! However, I do like potting them up first as you know they are active and healthy before putting what looks like a dormant, ugly potato in the soil. It also gives me something to do on a wet and cold afternoon.

Rowantree

I've planted lots of bulbs in pots last autumn.
I know the tulips will have to be discarded, but what about the scillas, iris reticulata, crocus and pushkinias? Can I leave them in their pots to flower again, or would it be better to plant them out in the garden and re-plant with fresh bulbs next autumn? Any advice welcome - thank you!

Dear Rowantree,
Bulbs in pots are fantastic. You can move them around the garden as they come into bloom and then, when they go over, replacing and rejuvenating your container display for weeks. But once they fade they do look leafy and a tad boring ( when compared to the flowers!) and you have two options. Leaving them in the pots is fine – but do make sure the leaves die down naturally. As they die down they are feeding the bulb, helping to produce next years flower buds. A little help with a fertiliser made for tomatoes will go down great guns. Use it once a week as soon as the flowering has finished right up until the leaves are yellow. Or you can up the lot out of the pots and replant in the garden. You do need to leave the foliage on to die down to ensure next years blooms. I suppose it depends on the size of garden and how important it is to utilise those pots – I generally leave my pot grown bulbs in their pots, shove them in a quiet part of the garden for late summer onwards, bringing them out next spring when the lovely buds are swelling up. Hope that helps.

blighty

Hello Phil I would like to grow some veg this year with my little GD. I have a wooden trough thing that I have used in the past although I suspect I need to empty what remains of the soil in there and start again. So...can you advise me what to put in it soil wise (it is about 60 inches by 30 inches possibly a big bigger and not that deep) Also tips on low maintenance things to grow would be great too. I want to encourage her to eat more veg and this seems a good way to start

Hello blighty,
What a great thing to be doing with your granddaughter. With both of my sons I've sown the seeds of gardening – the teenager isn't bothered at the moment, but our eight year old is still interested. I can only try! The trick with getting children interested is quick, fast results and easy to grow crops. Baby carrots are great – choose Amsterdam Forcing or a golf ball sized variety called Parmex. Both grow quickly, can be cropped before carrot fly is around to ruin things and importantly, are tasty. There are some mild varieties of radish that do much the same, and rocket ( maybe too peppery?) is always worth a try. Mizuna is a great leafy crop that can be eaten as you stroll around the garden. My boys enjoyed growing and picking peas but always check for maggots – I didn't and the now teenager was potentially put off for life when he discovered one in a pod! Baby beetroot will add colour to the trough and your salads. But you need to get the growing conditions right first. Make sure the drainage holes are open and put some crocks ( broken clay pots or use polystyrene chunks if you have any) in the base. Then renew all that compost with fresh multipurpose stuff – soil from the garden is usually too heavy, old compost may have bugs in it and won’t have any feed for the plants. Firm it all down and get sowing! I do hope it all works out – a future gardener in the making!

granontherun

Hello Phil, we have a Kentia palm in our living room, which appears to have become infested with either mealy bugs or spider mites, I'm not sure which.

So far I have tried spraying the plant with a solution of neem oil and water, but it doesn't appear to be working, and it smells.

Please could you help by recommending some treatments for this problem, preferably organic or at least natural. I worry about the grandchild being exposed to chemicals.

Hello granontherun,
As I type your name the tune 'Band on the Run' by Wings is playing in my head – thanks a lot – that’s there all day now!! Your kentia palm – lovely, graceful plant when growing well, but mottled and streaked when infested by what I suspect are red spider mites. Lets discount mealy bugs though. They look like small woodlice covered with fuzz and move slowly around the plants, biting and chewing at the main veins causing yellowing. I guess you would have seen these and screamed! Red spider mite are tiny, green in colour ( red over winter) and in bad infestations can actually cause webs to appear. However, don't mistake them for the bugs you see running around brick walls outside on sunny days – completely different beasts. Your indoor red spider mites love a dry atmosphere. They suck the sap from plants causing a yellowing speckling or mottling on the upper surface, with red or green spider mites and their cast offs skulking on the lower surface. Now, control – they can become resistant to chemicals, some controls smell ( as you say) so I advise using a natural biological predator. OK, the idea of introducing another insect onto your plant may not be for the squeamish, but they work a treat. The mites of the predator called Phytoseiulus persimilis will eat the eggs of the red spider mite reducing its population. It needs to be warm for them to work ( around 20C) and April onwards is the best time to use it. It's safe, effective and available from mail order companies. If you search for biological controls of red spider mite you will find them– and they in turn will find your red spider mites. Good luck. Now I've got to get that song out of my head!

tiggypiro

I have some blueberry bushes which last year hardly fruited at all. In previous years they have fruited well. They are in large pots with ericaceous compost.
They appear to have suckers which are now as big as the original plant - 30'' high. Should I remove these suckers and if so could they be re-planted to make new plants ?

Dear tiggypiro,
My first concern is lack of fruit last year. They do like it moist, they have to have ericaceous compost or acidic soil ( so that’s OK) but maybe they aren't in a sunny position? Blueberries flower, fruit and colour up best in autumn when grown in full sun. They also crop better when they have a couple of different blueberry varieties nearby – maybe another one has been moved? Use rainwater wherever possible and when growing in containers feed once a month with an feed for ericaceous plants. It's also best to prune out a third of the old wood over the dormant period through to March to keep new more productive shoots growing. That lot might isolate the non fruiting problem – but your suckers! You can remove these, with some root attached and try and grow them on. Put the sticks ( plus roots) around the edge of a large pot filled with ericaeous compost to which you've added a handful or two of grit. Ideally put in a cold greenhouse or somewhere sheltered, away from scorching sun ( if we get any) and they may continue to grow. Removing them will certainly help the parent plant as it will use its energy in producing new shoots. Thinking about it, have you pruned late and actually cut off the flower buds resulting in lack of fruit? I've done that before! Or have the birds had the lot when you turned your back? I'm asking more questions than you!

poppyhead

I've just purchased some Bridal Wreath hedge plants but they are still very small. Is there anything I can do to encourage a speedier growth or anything I can do to add to the height as it's been planted in place of a fence?

Dear poppyhead,
Your Bridal Wreath hedge will look incredible in a couple of years, and you do right by buying smaller plants. These will actually grow away quickly without any massive shock to their system as experienced by larger plants. The white flowers will be fantastic. There is one thing you can do to help them on their way and you only have to do this once. At planting time ( if you haven't planted them yet) dust the roots with a beneficial mychorrizal fungus. It sounds nasty but trust me, it's brilliant stuff. The fungus is within a dust like powder and when in contact with the roots grows, and attaches itself inside the plant roots. It then gets to work helping the plant get more nutrients and water alongside protecting against diseases. It's actually like a secondary root system. This all happens naturally over time in a healthy soil, so all you are doing is speeding the process up. Garden centres and other retailers sell it – you buy it in a pouch or sachet and it works on most plants. It's 100% beneficial, all natural and does no harm at all. And it will help your plants out. Once you've applied it you never need to do it again as the fungus grows and reproduces, helping new roots and surrounding plants. There are trade names but any good garden centre will help you out – mychorrizal fungus. Now, if you have already planted your plants – scrape away the top surface of soil and see if you can get some of the mychorrizal dust near the roots. Water it well ( if not raining) and chances are the fungus will find the roots. Hope that helps.

glutenfree

My fence is looking very old and worn at the end of the garden. Do you recommend painting it or is there a hardy climber or bush I can plant. By the way, I've not done well with Clematis in the past though so I'm a bit wary

Dear glutenfree,
My worry about planting against a fence is how stable it is. If it is 'very old and worn' and falling down then you have to fix it first! And if it is rotting then any weight of climber may well pull the whole thing down. So promise me you will make it sound....thanks!! Paint can look great – we've all done the blue fencing trend, the dark brown cheap stuff trend and the now more subtle yet over marketed ' Mrs Miggins' Country Cream' kind of trend. I know that I've done them all! If you are painting do make sure the paint or stain is plant friendly, make sure it doesn't run horribly down your neighbours side and allow to dry before planting anything against it. I have fallen foul of all three pieces of my own advice. Plants – you could plant in front of the fence to break the view rather than cover the view. This opens up lots of possibility – almost endless – but anything needs to be planted a foot or two away from the fence to ensure the roots get necessary water. As for climbers, as you have found out, clematis can be difficult to establish. They need to planted deeper than they are growing in their pots to ensure the underground buds grow to produce bushier plants. If the fence is north facing I would go for a shrubby plant called Garrya elipitica. It has evergreen leaves and masses of catkin like flowers in January and February. I do like a nice honeysuckle if it is sunnier and once the fence is stable, painted, had strong wires attached to it, how about a fence trained peach or nectarine? But spend the weekend making it all stable and safe, then stand back and decide!