Am I being inattentive , because people keep talking about pitto. flowers. I've got 4 different varieties in my garden and have never seen a flower on any of them. I know they are supposed to be small flowers but when should I get the magnifying glass out, which month?
I have a dark leaved pitto (think its tom thumb) only been in a coming up to a year the new growth is quite a bright green, is this normal will it turn dark over the winter or has it reverted to a green variety, mine is a ball shape which looked good when it was planted at the front of the border but has now lost its shape a bit with the new growth, I will wait until the spring to re-shape.
Its normal notgreen, panic not. Pruning now is fine - there's time yet for the ends to toughen up, and probably even to regrow a fair bit. Most geraniums (unless they're labelled as needing full sun) will do absolutely fine in shade, though IMHO you look a little bit tight for space. You might also consider ajuga reptans - one of the purple-leaved varieties. Commonly available and ultra easy.
I prune my pittosporum at the end of the lawn each year, but eventually it got so large that it was blocking too much of the garden behind. I decided to cut off the lower branches up to about 30 inches, leaving the stem bare. It worked perfectly, looking much better and now I plant perennials underneath it. Ajuga reptans is an excellent idea. My problem is that while I was away two years ago, someone pruned the centre too hard and now it has a hole in the middle which no new growth covers. Any suggestions how I can get it to grow back in the middle after too hard a prune?
Need some advice please, our 14 year old pittosporum tree seems to have died during the long cold winter. I have watered it well over the last few weeks and there now appears to be a few clusters of leaves on the trunk. Should I cut everything back or should I just leave it and wait and see?
No growth will come from the old stems. Cut out all dead wood, otherwise you may get coral spot disease. It will bush out but will take time. Consider moving it in autumn if its getting lashed by northern winds. They like sheltered sites away from frost pockets.
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Am I being inattentive , because people keep talking about pitto. flowers. I've got 4 different varieties in my garden and have never seen a flower on any of them. I know they are supposed to be small flowers but when should I get the magnifying glass out, which month?
Late spring and early summer.
I have a dark leaved pitto (think its tom thumb) only been in a coming up to a year the new growth is quite a bright green, is this normal will it turn dark over the winter or has it reverted to a green variety, mine is a ball shape which looked good when it was planted at the front of the border but has now lost its shape a bit with the new growth, I will wait until the spring to re-shape.
Its normal notgreen, panic not. Pruning now is fine - there's time yet for the ends to toughen up, and probably even to regrow a fair bit. Most geraniums (unless they're labelled as needing full sun) will do absolutely fine in shade, though IMHO you look a little bit tight for space. You might also consider ajuga reptans - one of the purple-leaved varieties. Commonly available and ultra easy.
yes BUT
How do you prune? cutting off top leaves branch exposed. It leafs from the top of the branch? How to prune without having Bare spots???
I prune my pittosporum at the end of the lawn each year, but eventually it got so large that it was blocking too much of the garden behind. I decided to cut off the lower branches up to about 30 inches, leaving the stem bare. It worked perfectly, looking much better and now I plant perennials underneath it. Ajuga reptans is an excellent idea. My problem is that while I was away two years ago, someone pruned the centre too hard and now it has a hole in the middle which no new growth covers. Any suggestions how I can get it to grow back in the middle after too hard a prune?
Need some advice please, our 14 year old pittosporum tree seems to have died during the long cold winter. I have watered it well over the last few weeks and there now appears to be a few clusters of leaves on the trunk. Should I cut everything back or should I just leave it and wait and see?
No growth will come from the old stems. Cut out all dead wood, otherwise you may get coral spot disease. It will bush out but will take time. Consider moving it in autumn if its getting lashed by northern winds. They like sheltered sites away from frost pockets.