gardning tips

[garden man]

Provided your gardens not under snow!!!

1. If you haven't cleared the leaves off your borders,dont worry leave them there,they will act as a mulch,you can dig them in if the soil is not frozen,or when it rains the worms will do the job for you!

2.Now the snows here stay off the lawn!! It will ruin it

3.Plant up cyclamen in pots outside for a bit of winter colour,should get them for a ?1 plus from local markets.Give them a feed & keep dead heading them.Buy flowering hyacinths as gifts,then plant them out for next year.

4.Sterilize your greenhouse,pots & planting trays,give your tools a good spray with WD40

5. Using an eco friendly cleaning product,power wash decking & timber features

6.The snow will provide a cover for some delicate plants,but not if it freezes hard,Cover Camelias,Rhododendrons & Azaleas with a fleece suspended above the plant to protect the flower buds.

7.Have a great Christmas,take care of your selves & each other,be positive for a wonderful new year ahead and thankyou to all my lovely customers for the work they have given me this year,I am very grateful.

Nigel

[PeckhamRose]

Nigel what a fabulous posting! Thank you very much.

Every single cyclamen plant I have ever bought, died on me.

What was I doing wrong? I'd just plant them in the troughs and hanging baskets and water them now and again!

Midwinter Greetings Nigel!

[Sue]

Cyclamen are prone to attack by vine weevil grubs, did you look to see if there were any roots left?

Edited to add: Usually with vine weevil, the plants look fine then suddenly collapse, usually you then think they must be short of water, but watering them has no effect.

What happens is they manage for a while whilst the grubs muunch the roots, but then there comes a point where there aren't sufficient roots left for the plant to take up water, and by then - too late.

[garden man]

Thanks Sue,I said that without opening my mouth!!!Very unusual for me.

[Sue]

:))

[alison cholajda]

Hi Nigel

What an excellent idea to put out some gardening tips, always appreciate when some one has got some good tips. Look forward to hearing any more tips you might have on gardening in general, and any thoughts on what flowers that grow best all year round?

Thanks again

Have a Wonderful Christmas and wish you a very successful and peaceful 2010

Alison:)

[PeckhamRose]

Thanks for this, Sue.

I have no idea what a vine weevil looks like but since I have never grown this plant successfully I am never going to try again. Me Winter berries look fab though, and one year I planted one in my upturned hanging helmet and it grew and berried every winter for 8 years. And in the summer the geranium I planted next to itin the same helmet grew and flowered also every summer for eight years. That worked, then.

[Sue]

Adult vine weevils are horrid pointy-headed beetles, a sort of dark browny-grey colour. They are very hard to kill, usually I wrap them up in a tissue and put them down the loo.

They don't do the damage, apart from chewing the edges of leaves (distinctive little rectangular bites) but they lay the eggs which turn into the grubs.

The grubs are disgusting, small and white with light brown heads. They hide in the compost, so you would only see them if you were actually looking for them.

Nurseries will use a chemical to put in the compost when growing cyclamen etc to ensure that their stock doesn't get decimated by vine weevil, but I don't think it is available to "ordinary" people. In any case it's not a nice chemical.

You can buy nematodes (parasite thingies) which will kill the grubs, but they are expensive and I'm not sure they work in the Winter.

I have cyclamen in my window boxes, am just resigned to the fact that they will probably succumb at some point, and not only that, I'll have to renew all the compost.

[SteveT]

If you use a feed, then you shouldn't have to change it at all, I wouldn't have thought...

The garden man can confirm, as I'm sure he doesn't change the contents of all of his boxes each and every year.

[garden man]

A few more tips on Cyclamen;

They are quite delicate & suffer from many predators,one way apart from feeding is to stand them in a bowl\plate of 1", gravel & water from below,not through the centre of the plant,fill with 1\2 inch of water.Maintain deadheading,including any fading leaves.

It tends to be the maggots of the vine weevil that do the damage,these can appear sometimes from not so reputable sources who dont use John Innes no.1 potting compost,but probably unsterilized or used soil.As Sue says,you can pick them out,or pay a little more from a reputable nursery,where you are protected by the seeds act.

If you need any plant advice,i would be glad to help if possible,might take a little time to get back to you as still a bit busy.

EVEN THOUGH THE WEATHERS' BAD CONTINUE TO USE THE RECOMMENDED GARDENERS ON THIS SITE,& BOOK THEM EARLY,AS THINGS GET A BIT BUSY FOR SPRING! GOOD LUCK,KEEP WARM!!!!!

Nigel

[pebbles]

Hi everyone

Am looking for a gardener and love that garden man posts his hints but I haven't been able to find any recommendations yet so just wondered if anyone had used him and what they thought before i book him.

Many thanks

Pebbles

[garden man]

Hi Pebbles,

I think he's great too!! But I would wouldn't I.Thankyou for your kind comments.There should be a thread for me,as my customers tell me they got me from here.

I'm a bit ill at the moment,you know "MAN FLU" Probably wont make it past the weekend,but in the unlikely event I do,please feel free if inclined to call me.

Have a good weekend

Kind regards

Nigel aka garden man!

07961888253

[Sue]

SteveT Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> If you use a feed, then you shouldn't have to

> change it at all, I wouldn't have thought...

>

> The garden man can confirm, as I'm sure he doesn't

> change the contents of all of his boxes each and

> every year.

xxxxxx

The reason for changing the compost in the context of vine weevils is that if you have vine weevils in the compost and you don't change it, you are likely to have vine weevils breeding in the compost.

If you don't have vine weevils then yes in theory you could just add a feed to last year's compost. If you are growing perennial plants in it, that's probably fine, though personally I would always replace the top few centimetres at least.

If you are growing bedding plants or other short-lived plants, however, the compost will probably be full of old plant roots etc even after you have removed the plants. Also you are likely to spread pests and diseases from year to year.

For the sake of a few pounds' worth of new compost, I would always renew the compost for seasonal plants.

[nunners85]

garden man - any advice? the leaves are falling off our magnolia grandliflora - they turn yellow then fall off from the bottom. it's only 8 ft fall or so, so only a few years old. is this normal? or could it be because we put it in a bigger pot and moved it to a slightly less sheltered position.

[garden man]

Hi,

Thanks for the question.

They are normally trouble free from pests,frosts are the usual cause of yellowing or brown ,which maybe down to the less sheltered position.Watch out for a mould on the leaves,or even worse a fungus which will kill the plant. Needs a well drained loamy soil,with a top dressing of peat or compost each April.May help to move it back to sheltered position,especially while these easterly winds still persist.

Hope that helps

Nigel

[Mick Mac]

garden man Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Hi Pebbles,

> I think he's great too!! But I would wouldn't

> I.Thankyou for your kind comments.There should be

> a thread for me,as my customers tell me they got

> me from here.

> I'm a bit ill at the moment,you know "MAN FLU"

> Probably wont make it past the weekend,but in the

> unlikely event I do,please feel free if inclined

> to call me.

>

> Have a good weekend

>

> Kind regards

>

> Nigel aka garden man!

> 07961888253

It was all going so well until you mentioned your real name was Nigel. Oh dear. You can always edit that part.

[woofmarkthedog]

Garden Man

Have you met "Burnt Face Man"

http://www.burntfaceman.com/burntfacemanhead.png

He may be on your case soon..

Along with Man-Spider...

W**F

Garden question

( incase admin are beaking in at me )...err..

Oh yeah, can I grow herbs in a shoe....I mean, an old basin ?

[nunners85]

thanks so much - i'll move it and see if it looks happier. ta!

[red devil]

Woofty said...

Yes, but remember to fill your plughole with some old crocks...

[Easties EL]

Garden man, what are the best plants to grow or keep in the bathroom, if you know what I mean?

[garden man]

Hi Easties EL

Thanks for asking.Maiden hair fern is one of the most popular,very easy to keep.Little bamboo shoots,sold as "Lucky bamboo"

Try small Kentia palms,very pretty and also Lavender is always very relaxing.Good luck Gman