Minnie's Gardeners' Question Time - help for the new gardeners

[harpo]

We cut about 3 or 4 smallish branches off and some twigs. There was no frost immediately afterwards, it's a bloody big thing and I seriously doubt we have 'cut all the blossom off' lol.

Anyway thanks for the feedback

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

I neglected to water my Hakuro Nikishi (Japanese Willow). It was looking lovely and green a few days ago.

Now it looks like this I gave it loads and loads of water yesterday but it's leaves are all dry. Shall I pull them all off?

 

[geminisnake]

I'd give it another day and see if the leaves perk up. Willow are generally water lovers, no idea about japanese ones though, so don't forget to water it again!

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

I'd give it another day and see if the leaves perk up. Willow are generally water lovers, no idea about japanese ones though, so don't forget to water it again!

I gave it EIGHT pints yesterday (it's not been watered for a while) and another 2 pints today and it's only in a small container I'll probably drown it instead

Can't find a picture of the pot size but here's what it looked like last year.



I've done a huge amount of lugging planters around today to move it to a shadier spot, then decided I was only going to get poked in the eye with it, so moved it over to the other side of the house altogether

 

[Me76]

I bought a primula in march which took well and grew very tall with lovely flowers. The flowers have gone now and the tall stems are all floppy. I feel like I should be cutting them back but have no idea if that's right. ???

 

[geminisnake]

Me76, I normally leave primulas to die back on their own(the leaves), you could cut the flower stems though.

Minnie if you gave it 8 pints you may well have drowned it! Has it got good drainage? If it;s what I think it is it's a bugger to keep nice. I had two, I still kind of have one the other has got back to being a plain willow(the pink/white leaves bit is grafted on).

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Me76, I normally leave primulas to die back on their own(the leaves), you could cut the flower stems though.

Minnie if you gave it 8 pints you may well have drowned it! Has it got good drainage? If it;s what I think it is it's a bugger to keep nice. I had two, I still kind of have one the other has got back to being a plain willow(the pink/white leaves bit is grafted on).

Well I felt soil today after watering it yesterday and it wasn't sodden, although I didn't feel that far down. In fact, the first few centimetres was just damp. Yeah, drainage seems good, and yes, I keep cutting to try to get it neat but then it branches out somewhere else

 

[Me76]

Thanks Geminisnake.

 

[May Kasahara]

found this thread at last. we've just bought a house with a small garden full of established plants, so I will be hanging out here looking for advice on how not to kill them.

first question: should I prune my honeysuckle? it's well established, climbing all over the side fence; bits of it are green and flowering and other parts seem dried-out, brown and dead. But when I've snipped off some of the dry-looking twiggy bits, they are still green inside. I'm guessing this means they are actually still alive? the honeysuckle is flowering at the moment.

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

found this thread at last. we've just bought a house with a small garden full of established plants, so I will be hanging out here looking for advice on how not to kill them.

first question: should I prune my honeysuckle? it's well established, climbing all over the side fence; bits of it are green and flowering and other parts seem dried-out, brown and dead. But when I've snipped off some of the dry-looking twiggy bits, they are still green inside. I'm guessing this means they are actually still alive? the honeysuckle is flowering at the moment.

I think (but could be wrong) that it may be alright. I had similar problem with plants I bought last year and couldn't remember what I was supposed to do with them come the winter so I just left them there thinking they'd die. Some I cut down, some I didn't. I noticed that the ones that were green in the middle are the ones that are coming back, whereas other stuff I cut down that had no green doesn't seem to be doing anything

I've just googled, and found a site that says honeysuckle is a hardy perennial.

PS: Don't trust anything I say as I'm new to all this and there may be lots of different types of honeysuckle for all I know

 

[geminisnake]

I'd wait til after the summer to cut back your honeysuckle, but only do that if you want to. My honeysuckle at the bottom of the garden gets left to do it's own thang and seems happy enough. If it gets a bit too unruly it gets pruned back a bit(every 2/3 yrs)

 

[May Kasahara]

Thanks both. So the fact that I've trimmed a few bits off won't kill it or anything? I haven't attacked the main stems or trunk at all, just chopped some of the really long scratchy bits (it's only a small garden).

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Thanks both. So the fact that I've trimmed a few bits off won't kill it or anything? I haven't attacked the main stems or trunk at all, just chopped some of the really long scratchy bits (it's only a small garden).

I'm sure it'll be fine

Pictures of your garden would be good

 

[May Kasahara]

Will do, when I find out where Mr K has unpacked the camera lead

 

[May Kasahara]

Hacked back the massive geranium bush this afternoon. I think our vendor had aspirations to a larger garden than our standard small terrace size, as everything she planted is of the wild and rambling variety - fuschias spilling out onto the grass, peonies fainting everywhere. Quite pleased that the above link suggests the geranium might benefit from having been pruned, as I do like it and so do the bees.

Also took out most of the Japanese anemone - a great clot of foliage with one tiny flowerbud poking timidly out. In our small garden, that is not enough value for space

THe blue passion flower at the back is coming out lovely now though

 

[trashpony]

I first learned about gardening when I got my first one and hacked a load of stuff back only to find it putting on a phenomenal growth spurt

You can be quite aggressive with honeysuckle but I'd wait until autumn. My passion flower needs serious attacking - last year, it destroyed my TV reception by climbing up the cord of the dish I love it but don't plant it against the wall of a house!

Yes, pix please

I'm going to update my 'starting a border from scratch thread - it's gone absolutely bonkers this year - some things are nearly 3m tall

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

I think I may have been growing a weed

Anyone know what this is?

A tiny little flower has appeared, but I also found the same flower on the complete other side of the garden, so is it a weed?

 

[trashpony]

Yeah it's a weed

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Yeah it's a weed

Oh

Well at least it frees up that pot then. I was looking forward to it being a plant I may have cut down last year

Oh, and you see that big pot behind? Was it you that told me to cut my canna lilies right back?

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Forgot to add this one yesterday. Is this a weed?

 

[Leafster]

Yep!

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Yep!

Excellent. That frees up another pot

Cheers Leafster

Out of curiousity, what is it? It might be a very pretty weed

 

[Leafster]

Excellent. That frees up another pot

Cheers Leafster

Out of curiousity, what is it? It might be a very pretty weed

I'm not sure what it's called but I think it's a type of wild geranium - Herb Robert, maybe?

ETA: Looks like it probably is Herb Robert: http://www.7wells.co.uk/wild-geranium-collection-307-p.asp

 

[Kidda]

I think I may have been growing a weed

Anyone know what this is?View attachment 20540

A tiny little flower has appeared, but I also found the same flower on the complete other side of the garden, so is it a weed?

View attachment 20541

I had one of these appear in a pot i hadn't planted anything in yet. I ended up leaving it as the flowers were actually quite pretty. Lots of white, pink and purple.

It does need a careful watch though to make sure it doesn't get out of hand. If it had been in my flower beds it would have been out and burnt pronto though.

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

I'm not sure what it's called but I think it's a type of wild geranium - Herb Robert, maybe?

ETA: Looks like it probably is Herb Robert: http://www.7wells.co.uk/wild-geranium-collection-307-p.asp

Yep, I discovered it's probably come from the weed that's been growing for years before I even had a garden!

You see the one in Post 376 that Trashy's identified as a weed (the one with the little white flower), what about the one in the pot next to it?

I have lots of pictures of things that need identifying (weed or not!)

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

I had one of these appear in a pot i hadn't planted anything in yet. I ended up leaving it as the flowers were actually quite pretty. Lots of white, pink and purple.

It does need a careful watch though to make sure it doesn't get out of hand. If it had been in my flower beds it would have been out and burnt pronto though.

Yeah, they appeared in a hanging basket on the other side of the house. I pulled them out though as that basket's overcrowded with a geranium, begonia and other stuff

 

[Leafster]

Yep, I discovered it's probably come from the weed that's been growing for years before I even had a garden!

You see the one in Post 376 that Trashy's identified as a weed (the one with the little white flower), what about the one in the pot next to it?

I have lots of pictures of things that need identifying (weed or not!)

If you mean the one in the black pot on the left, then I don't know what it is.

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

If you mean the one in the black pot on the left, then I don't know what it is.

Oh well, it might be a nice surprise!

Here's where that weed probably came from (behind that pipe)

 

[Me76]

Forgot to add this one yesterday. Is this a weed?

View attachment 20562

I get this everywhere in my garden. I leave it to grow around the edges of the paving as I think it is qute pretty, it gets pulled out of pots though.

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

I get this everywhere in my garden. I leave it to grow around the edges of the paving as I think it is qute pretty, it gets pulled out of pots though.

Yeah, I left it by the pipe as it was the ony thing that had flowered