Monthly Q&A – February 2023

Our experts answers to your February questions:

• It looks like I’ve lost my evergreen agapanthus in the wintery weather, is there anything I can do to save it?
• Can I prune a fuchsia during winter, or should I wait until spring?
• Is it possible to move a Salvia x jamensis 'Hot Lips', and if so, when?
• What is the best way to eliminate mealybug on my orchids and streptocarpus?
• Can I grow asparagus in a raised bed, and how many crowns would fit in?

Our expert's answers to your January questions:

Watch the answers to the January questions, which were:

• Why did my healthy pittosporum suddenly lose all its leaves?
• Why are my leeks so small?
• Should I tidy up the pine needles from the base of my tree?
• Is it too late to plant spring bulbs?
• Is it too late to prune sambucus?

Our expert's answers to your December questions:

Watch the answers to the December questions, which were:

• My water butt smells, can I still use this water for vegetables and other plants?
• How do I look after my banana plant in winter?
• How can I help my amaryllis flower again?
• My beech hedge is infested with woolly aphid, what can I do?
• Hardly any of my beetroot plugs have grown, what has happened?

Our expert's answers to your November questions:

Watch the answers to the November questions, which were

• What can I use my greenhouse for over winter? I'm a novice gardener.
• How do I winter mulch a block of perennials in a border without burying the crowns? Or is it OK to do that?
• How can I improve the flowering of an old climbing rose?
• Do I need to remove a variegated alder that has coral spots on the bark?
• How do I get rid of worm casts in my lawn?

Our expert's answers to your October questions:

Watch the answers to the October questions, which were:

• How can I get my peat free compost to retain water?
• My raspberries got muddled when planting. Can I prune without knowing if they’re summer or autumn-fruiting?
• Should I remove the large figs on my tree, as they have reached the correct size but aren’t ripening?
• What can I do to get rid of fuchsia gall mite?
• I bought some 9cm potted perennials in an autumn sale. Should I pot them on and let them establish in pots until spring or should I put them straight into the borders?

Our expert's answers to your September questions:

Watch the answers to the September questions, which were:

• How can I reuse old compost?
• Should I put pot feet or saucers under my containers?
• My lawn looks terrible after summer, and crows are pecking it. What can I do?
• My wisteria has died, but is shooting from the base. Will those new shoots flower?
• My plum tree has brown rot. What should I do?

Our expert's answers to your August questions:

Watch the answers to the August questions, which were:

• What is the best way to revive badly dehydrated potted hydrangeas?
• I often read about adding ‘loam’ to compost, but what is ‘loam’?
• My roses are covered in black spot. I don't want to spray them. Are there any other methods to control it?
• Why have my runner beans failed?
• Lots of my brassicas have grown with no centre – cauliflowers with no curds, cabbages with no heart, calabrese with no heads. What is the cause?

Our expert's answers to your July questions:

Watch the answers to the July questions, which were:

• How often should I water my dahlias and sweet peas?
• Lots of my plants have powdery mildew. What should I do about it?
• My pinks have grown very leggy. When is a good time to take cuttings?
• Why are my vegetable plants all leaves and no fruit?
• My summer-fruiting raspberries have several very long, non-fruiting stems. Are they for next year’s harvest or do they need cutting back?