Forum home› Plants
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

Is it still too cold?

ren.bren.b Posts: 164
in Plants
I've got several Verbena bonariensis that need cutting right back, hosta to divide and tons of other jobs that I normally would have done by April but it's still so cold at night not to mention the flurries of snow we keep getting in W. Yorkshire - is it still too cold do these jobs?  I keep looking outside at all the jobs and it's driving me nuts .....
«1

Posts

  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    unless you've got a LOT of snow, I'd say it's fine, esp the Hostas
    Devon.
  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    edited April 2022
    I think this chilly spell is coming to an end by tomorrow (at least "Down South"), so you should be okay after that.
    No idea why my post looks like this 😁

  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    Are your Verbenas shooting at the base? I so I would go ahead and cut them down now.
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I'd wait with the verbenas , unless April weather is usually half decent where you are. I don't cut any back here until it's much warmer and the weather is more consistent. I can then use the cut pieces as cuttings for new plants too.
    They don't always survive here unless they're tucked in against walls or similar, for protection  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    I think this just goes to show the difference in the information you will receive depending on where people live. 
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    I've done some of my Verbena bonariensis that are already growing strongly from the base, but I have sandy well-drained soil that warms up early and suits them. I think it makes a difference.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • ren.bren.b Posts: 164
    Thanks everyone - I wish this forum would let you reply to each individual post - I think there is some new growth but it's bloody cold at night, I'm up North (near Halifax), they are up against a fence (not a wall). Might wait a few more days then.

    Hostafan - can I pick your brains?  I cut down my massive hostas at the end of autumn and I want to dig them up and divide them, I've only dug up and divided iris so far - is it a similar process?  I've also got some of that snail deterrent - the wool pellets to try and stop the slugs attacking them.  They grow by my stream and get enormous so I think they need dividing.  Can you recommend a good youtube video where you don't need a degree in horticulture to understand what they are saying?  I've got a ton of leaf mould - would they like that after being divided?
  • ren.bren.b Posts: 164
    Anni D - couldn't stop laughing where you put 'I have no idea why my post looks like this' - one time, everytime I posted in here and added a line space it would be like a four foot gap between the paragraphs, never did figure out why :D
  • PosyPosy Posts: 3,601
    Monty divided hostas last Friday. You may not find the wool pellets do much good.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Yes watch last Friday’s GW on iPlayer … it’s reappeared on Sunday mornings but unless you’re watching it now you’ll have missed it. 

    Monty demonstrated how to split and replant large hostas. 


    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





Sign In or Register to comment.