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The
man who always has the answer for gardeners with a problem, Reg
Moule has been a popular voice on BBC Radio Gloucestershire for
many years.
Now
Reg is available to answer your gardening questions online - What
are you waiting for? Ask Reg your question...
Ask
Reg your gardening question
DECEMBER
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS:
Abi
from Bray, Berkshire asks:
I moved into a new house; hired a tiller to remove most of the
ivy and will use 'growing success' to kill the ivy. Now what
is the best way to disinfect the soil and I have a large area????
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Reg
answers:
Hi Abi,
Once you have killed off the ivy there is no need to disinfect
the soil and, even if there was a reason to do it, there are
no longer any soil sterilisation products approved for use
by amateur
gardeners.
I think that the best way forward is to kill the ivy, cultivate
the soil and then dig in plenty of organic matter such as
well rotted farm manure, or mushroom compost. Both of these
are readily available at garden centres but mushroom compost
can make the soil a little alkaline, which could make growing
acid loving plants, like Rhododendrons Azaleas etc, more difficult.
With Best Wsihes,
Reg.
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Dr.
D.W. Kaikini from Isleworth, Middlesex asks:
My newly laid lawn appears to be affected with patches of Fusarium.
I would appreciate your advice re. treatment and where one can
purchase the product. Many Thanks. |
Reg
answers:
This is a turf problem that often appears during mild, damp
spells during the autumn and winter. Another factor that helps
to encourage the infection is poor aeration, so spiking the
area may well help to discourage the spread of the fungus. The
only treatment still avaiable is a product called Bio Kills
Moss On Lawns, containing the active ingredient dichlorophen,
that is sold only as a ready to use mixture in a yellow spray
gun pack. Even this is due to be phased out over the next 18
months, so you may not find it in all garden centres. |
Jason
Seemungal from Carmarthen asks:
Hi, I would like to know how to make my own ericaceous compost,
can't seem to find this information anywhere. I don't want to
buy it in bags as I need a large quantity. Thanks. |
Reg
answers:
Hi Jason. You can make your own ericaceous compost quite easily
using a mixture of peat and sand or loam, peat and sand to which
you add a product called Chempak Ericaceous Compost Maker. This
is a blend of the correct nutrients to create a suitable acid
root environment to suit all ericaceous plants, once it has
been added to a basic medium blend as described above.
Some garden centres will stock the product but it also be obtained
by mail order from Chempak, Geddings Road, Hoddesdon, Herts
EN11 0LR. Tel:01992 441 888. e-mail:
sales@chempak.co.uk |
Bluebell
in Gloucester asks:
How do I prune perennial wallflowers? |
Reg
answers:
Perennial wallflowers are lovely cottage garden plants that
should be trimmed back each year immediately after the MAIN
flowering period, as they keep making small flushes of blooms
outside the main flowering period. Shoots that have bourne flowers
should be cut back to where non-flowered shoots are emerging.
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Nigel
Phillips from Quedgeley asks:
The cutting off the top of a pineapple I took 18 months ago
is outgrowing the pot & room. How big will it grow? |
Reg
answers:
The fruiting pineapple Ananas comosus (aka A. sativus) is not
usually grown as a houseplant other than as a curiosity raised,
as you have, from the top of a fruit, due to the way it develops
into a large plant. They can reach up to 3-4 ft (90-120cm) tall
and 4-6ft (120-180cm) in width.They are really giant herbaceous
plants and they can be quite dangerous too due to the tooth-like
spines on the foliage. |
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Mary
Harris from Cheltenham asks:
A last minute Christmas present idea , where can I purchase
the soham rose, bare root, please ?
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Reg
answers:
Hi Mary,
The best way to obtain a Soham Rose bare root is by contacting:
Harkness Roses, The Rose Gardens. Cambridge Road. Hitchen Herts.
SG4 0 JT Tel : 01462 420402
E-mail: harkness@roses.co.uk
Best Wishes,
Reg. |
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Sarah
Clarke in London asks:
I have an indoor fig tree which after progressing well, new
shoots etc.. seems to be ailing. All the leaves are dropping
off, is this purely a seasonal thing or is there something
I am neglecting to do?
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Reg
answers:
Hi
Sarah,
I presume that the fig tree in question is one of the Ficus
benjamina varieties, or weeping figs as they are known, because
they are renowned for having periods of leaf dropping for
no apparent reason. Usually this happens during the onset
of autumn or in the early part of spring and to some extent
it may be the plant responding to the change of season but
there are other factors that can also help to promote leaf
dropping. They are :
1.
Keeping the plant in a position where light levels are too
low. Sometimes this can be diagnosed when the majority of
foliage is being lost from the side of the plant that is furthest
away from the source of available light. Remedy: turning the
plant regularly or moving it to a lighter spot.
2.
Hot, dry air dries the leaves out, causing them to drop. This
happens quite often beginning just after the central heating
is used regularly after being off during the summer. You see,
central heating makes the air in the home very dry so for
the plant - it is a little bit like it has been put in the
Sahara desert.
Remedy: Place the pot on a wide saucer of moist gravel and
keep the gravel moist as well as watering the compost in the
pot. This will mean that as the warm air rises around the
foliage it will collect moisture from the gravel instead of
sucking it out of the leaves.
3
Another possible cause would be either under or over watering
or even excessive feeding.
Remedy: Push your finger into the compost to the depth of
your first joint, then pull it back out and feel the end to
see if it is moist. If it is then the plant does not need
watering, if it is dry then give some water. During the October
to late March period the plant will only need feeding once
every 4 weeks as it is not growing much, just surviving until
spring
when growth surges again. Some of the lost foliage will be
replaced in spring anyway.
I
hope that this advice will help you to revive the ailing ficus.
With
Best Wishes, Reg.
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Watch
out for more questions and answers next month...
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can submit your questions to Reg by clicking
here
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Gardening
Guru Reg Moule has been solving green-fingered problems for years.
