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Talkback: Gardening mistakes

Gardeners' World Web UserGardeners' World Web User Posts: 17,147
in Talkback
I made the same mistake with Hesperis matronalis, but found out you can eat the young plants (i eat up to about 10cm high after that I find they are bit hairy and need cooking). So the problem's become supper.

http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Hesperis+matronalis
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  • Gardeners' World Web UserGardeners' World Web User Posts: 17,147
    could anyone out there recommend plants that are slug proof, thanks
  • Gardeners' World Web UserGardeners' World Web User Posts: 17,147
    Hi Ive been trying to find out how to kill ivy. I have been told so far that diesel?! Well seems a bit drastic but it is really a problem for me. My neibourgh loves it and it grows through my fence I have already dug out 4 dead trees as it was left to run riot before I moved in. I am worried that if I grow anything too near to the fence the ivy will kill it. Is there some kind of spray that I can put on the fence to deter it from growing into my garden? some of the trunks of this ivy is over 3 inches thick and I cant help it...I really hate it!!! Anyone please I need some tips. Thank you.
  • Gardeners' World Web UserGardeners' World Web User Posts: 17,147
    Hi James!
    I think my biggest mistake is planting stuff that the Japanese Beetle love. Next year we will be debudding all of our roses until after June/July - the beetles ate every bud set this year until they finished mating & died off. And we had busted the budget this year and bought 5 David Allen Roses, so it was a bummer :(

    We love you James :)
    Keep the great articles coming, please!
  • Gardeners' World Web UserGardeners' World Web User Posts: 17,147
    how to grow pinks carnations better
  • Gardeners' World Web UserGardeners' World Web User Posts: 17,147
    Relating to the missing planting of tulips and alliums. I experience similar problem. In my case, I wait for the opportunity to plant (if tulip are planted later the rate of being affected by virus is lower due to cold temperature) until I miss it and the ground is too cold. When is the latest time to plant them? Was the problem getting the bulbs before planting other plants on the top? Is it possible to grow bulbs in pots and overwinter in non heated greenhouse if I miss planting them in ground?
    Many thanks.
  • Gardeners' World Web UserGardeners' World Web User Posts: 17,147
    I grow all my tulips in pots in the garden and every year I have lovely displays pack loads in and they hold each other up they are wonderful. I grow one colour per pot, you can't go wrong.
  • Gardeners' World Web UserGardeners' World Web User Posts: 17,147
    My mistake was assuming that the builders replacing my soffits would take care of my beds.
    They had no choice but to put their ladders amongst my beds and I asked them to try and place thier ladders around the plants but I didn't supervise them enough so I now have tomato plants with some of the leaves broken and huge holes in their root runs, some completely squashed strawberry plants and lettuce leaves that are no longer eatable. :-(
    Oh well, at least you only need the soffits replaced once.
  • Gardeners' World Web UserGardeners' World Web User Posts: 17,147
    I grow bulbs in pots, using odd numbers. When they have plenty of leaves, I dig holes between border peremials and plant the pots. This way I can be sure of where they are and take them up after flowering-'Magic'. Doing this cuts-down on the amount dug-up or eaten by wildlife. This fab tip came from the Gardeners' World TV show, a few years ago.
  • Gardeners' World Web UserGardeners' World Web User Posts: 17,147
    Please can any one help? We are very keen to remove the ivy which is climbing on the back of our house but we are worried about how to do this without damaging the brick work. When we pull bits down where it grows over windows and into the guttering it leaves marks on the wall. Any ideas please.
  • Gardeners' World Web UserGardeners' World Web User Posts: 17,147
    Slug Proof Plant - Try Eryngium Yuccifolium or anything hairy or prickly.

    Autumn..
    This week I have been enjoying the late summer sun. Watching as the low sun moves around the garden, casting long shadows over the grass. I have been dividing perennials and renovating the borders trying to keep them looking fresh for next year and trying out new planting combinations. I have placed a small Eryngium yuccifolium next to a beautiful soft pink, scented David Austin rose called ‘Heritage’, this is just behind some soft ‘lambs ears’ and a silver grass( Could be miscanthus sinensis 'Silberfeder'), which has self seeded. This, like most of my gardening was a lucky guess. I had been bobbing around the front of the border carrying the Eryngium root ball and squinting, trying to work out where to squeeze it in when I put it down to rest on the grass in front of the rose. Not something I would normally think of but the combination of the spiky foliage and the soft ‘lambs ears’ and the green blue foliage with pink and silver works.
    Eryngium yuccifolium grows to around 1.5m and provides a great architectural contrast to the ‘soft’ planting in the borders. It is also known as
    ‘Rattlesnake Master’ (cue scary music) because the root used to be used by the Native American Indians to cure rattlesnake bites. It’s native to the tall grass prairies of central and eastern North America. These prairies also contained grasses such as Indian grass (Sorghastrum nutans), Big Bluestem (Andropogon gerardii), and Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), and Switch grass (Panicum virgatum), which average between 5 and 6 feet. So tall, that a native Red Indian could travel through them on horseback almost unseen. (So the story goes).
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