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• Questions and Answers - The Gardening Register have been offering free gardening advice online for the last four years. The questions and answers can be found on the website here. Over the next few months those questions and answers will be transferred to the blog. Moving location will make it easier for users to find the information they are looking ...
• Replacing an old Hedge - I have a west-facing garden with a border of 12′ leylandii on the south side. As a result, the grass on the south side of the garden is almost constantly in shade and waterlogged most months of the year. Share and Enjoy: ...
• Wildflower Gardening - Every year I spend hundreds of pounds on my garden, and every year everything dies. I would like a wild flower garden, that will attract butterflies and bees, I have loads of elderberry trees behind my back fence, which hang over into my garden (which I like) they attract the birds, I would also like ...
• Questions for September 2008 - Question HELP - We built a small raised lawn just over 2 years ago, it is Oval in shape, domed in the middle and contained by a brick surround. We filled the surround with top soil and then turfed. Unfortunately is has sunk on one end and now looks terrible. What is the quickest and easiest ...
• Repairing Lawn - Question: We built a small raised lawn just over 2 years ago, It is Oval in shape, domed in the middle and contained by a brick surround. We filled the surround with top soil and then turfed. Unfortunately is has sunk on one end and now looks terrible. What is the quickest and easiest way to ...

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Answer:
All trees and shrubs take time to get established following a move, as long as you are keeping it well watered it should be OK.

However, the monkey puzzle trees like full sun and well-drained soil so check that it isn't sitting in water and move it to a sunny area if it isn't located in one currently.

The monkey puzzle tree is slow growing but can eventually grow to a height of 60-70ft and a width of 30-35ft so may eventually outgrow your garden. I know you've only just moved it out of a container but it may be better to grow it in a pot but the pot needs to be of considerable size in order for the tree to reach it's full potential. Make sure you feed it regularly with a general feed such as pelleted chicken manure and mulch the surface with some well rotted organic matter such as manure. If it out grows its pot, wait until the autumn then re-pot in a large pot with plenty of drainage holes. Add some crocks or broken clay pots into the bottom to help drainage and to help stop it falling over, then fill with a good quality compost. Add a general feed such as pelleted chicken manure and mulch the surface with some well rotted organic matter such as manure. Each year you should top up the compost level, feed and add more organic matter.

If you do want to keep it in the ground keep it well watered during the first year and feed and mulch in the autumn.

• Clay Soil - I have very bad soil that is impossible to dig, it has a lot of clay in it. How can I break this down and make the soil soft and ready to plant. I am not frightened of a bit of hard work. Share and Enjoy: ...
• Wildflower Gardening - Every year I spend hundreds of pounds on my garden, and every year everything dies. I would like a wild flower garden, that will attract butterflies and bees, I have loads of elderberry trees behind my back fence, which hang over into my garden (which I like) they attract the birds, I would also like ...
• Black Bamboo - Phyllostachys nigra - I have a small garden and have recently purchased a black bamboo plant which is about 7 ft tall. I am aware that the plant can put out runners for some distance, and bamboos tend to be agressive. Would it be advisable to plant this bamboo with a barrier around it to prevent agressive spreading ...
• Low Maintenance Flower Beds - Our local council have decided to grass over four of the flower beds along our road due to cost cutting. They have said that they will consider alternative use of the beds i.e. monument or alternate designs. It has to be low maintenance and be appropriate for the seaside setting as the cliffs are about ...

Answer:
I'm sorry to hear about your Cordyline. I think we need to establish whether the plant has dried up because the ground dried out or because it has been affected by a pest or disease. Is the soil around the plant dry and if so how far down is it dry? If the soil is damp a few inches down then the plant could be infected which has caused it to shrivel. Have a look around the leaves and the surrounding soil and let me know if you find any evidence of pests or diseases and I'll investigate further.

In the meantime I would give it a good drink of water and a sprinkling of fertiliser. Add a couple of inches of well rotted manure around the base to help keep the moisture in.

• Planting Box Hedge - I want to plant a box hedge this summer - how far apart should they be? Share and Enjoy: ...
• Plants for Containers - We have a side 3ft gate (adjacent to pavement verge/road) set into a well established 8ft hedge of mixed varieties. We cannot plant as the area is a concreted path so…. have you any suggestions of a large POTTED plant that we could place against the gate to provide ourselves some privacy (gate does not ...
• Rust on Roses - How can I prevent my rose bushes getting rust, also do I need to put a pot ash in soil, they are just starting to get the leaves, then during the summer they get what I think is rust and they fall off. Share and Enjoy: ...
• Replacing an old Hedge - I have a west-facing garden with a border of 12′ leylandii on the south side. As a result, the grass on the south side of the garden is almost constantly in shade and waterlogged most months of the year. Share and Enjoy: ...
• Weeds in Hedge - Our hedge in invaded by climbing weeds, possibly ivy. We have removed most of it by cutting the weed and pulling them as gently as possibly. The hedge is in a bad state, lots of dead wood and very little foliage in the bottom part. We have managed to pull some of the weeds root out ...

Answer:
Most fruit trees are very hardy but once they start into growth in spring, flowers and buds are especially vulnerable to frost. It may well be that the flower buds were affected by the frost and died. Next year in early spring cover the tree with horticultural fleece until all risk of frost has passed.

• Plants for Containers - We have a side 3ft gate (adjacent to pavement verge/road) set into a well established 8ft hedge of mixed varieties. We cannot plant as the area is a concreted path so…. have you any suggestions of a large POTTED plant that we could place against the gate to provide ourselves some privacy (gate does not ...
• Monkey Puzzle Tree - I have a monkey puzzle tree in a large pot and hope to plant it in the garden this year. It is approximately 1 meter tall, how big will the roots grow over time as this will have a relevance on were the tree can be planted. Share and Enjoy: ...
• Pruning Fruit Trees - Is it OK to prune unwanted limbs off a pear tree after is begins to bloom. One of my trees is an eating pear and the other is a canning pear. Has not been pruned in years and need to get rid of dead limbs and cross overs. Share and Enjoy: ...
• Cordyline Drying Out - I’ve just got back from holiday to find that my cordyline red star has unexpectedly dried up. Everybody else’s in the close seems to be doing well. What could have gone wrong? Is there any way I can salvage the plant? Share and Enjoy: ...
• Planting Box Hedge - I want to plant a box hedge this summer - how far apart should they be? Share and Enjoy: ...

Answer:
For the best results plant 30cm (12in) apart. Prepare the soil well, adding lots of well rotted manure to the surrounding soil. Don't allow the manure to touch the roots directly. Firm the plants well and sprinkle some fertiliser on the surface before watering well. Ensure that the soil is never allowed to dry out. Carefully trim the plants in mid or late summer. Prune each year in late spring. After pruning apply a top-dressing of a balanced slow-release fertiliser such as blood, fish around the base of the plant, ensuring that none touches the leaves or stems. This should produce a good quality hedge in no time.

• Weeds in Hedge - Our hedge in invaded by climbing weeds, possibly ivy. We have removed most of it by cutting the weed and pulling them as gently as possibly. The hedge is in a bad state, lots of dead wood and very little foliage in the bottom part. We have managed to pull some of the weeds root out ...
• Replacing an old Hedge - I have a west-facing garden with a border of 12′ leylandii on the south side. As a result, the grass on the south side of the garden is almost constantly in shade and waterlogged most months of the year. Share and Enjoy: ...
• Plants for Containers - We have a side 3ft gate (adjacent to pavement verge/road) set into a well established 8ft hedge of mixed varieties. We cannot plant as the area is a concreted path so…. have you any suggestions of a large POTTED plant that we could place against the gate to provide ourselves some privacy (gate does not ...
• Cordyline Drying Out - I’ve just got back from holiday to find that my cordyline red star has unexpectedly dried up. Everybody else’s in the close seems to be doing well. What could have gone wrong? Is there any way I can salvage the plant? Share and Enjoy: ...
• Pruning Fruit Trees - Is it OK to prune unwanted limbs off a pear tree after is begins to bloom. One of my trees is an eating pear and the other is a canning pear. Has not been pruned in years and need to get rid of dead limbs and cross overs. Share and Enjoy: ...

I have just moved into a new house and there is a 20 foot high leylandii hedge down one whole side of the garden.  The bottom is a bit sparse, and I really want to plant a border in front of it.  Can you please give me any advice about what plants would survive?

Answer:

Leylandii are a nuisance in the garden as they grow very quick and if not kept in check can soon take over a whole garden!

It is extremely difficult to grow anything under a hedge, particularly leylandii as they remove so much moisture from the soil.

I would not advise trying to plant a border under the hedge as the shade and lack of moisture means that not much is likely to grow there successfully.

I would plant up pots to provide colour and interest, just place them under the hedge and keep them well watered.

Try planting a few pots with spring flowering bulbs layering different types to get a succession of flowering e.g. daffodils in the lower layer, followed by tulips, then crocus or iris; anything that takes your fancy will do. Once flowering is over these pots can be moved into a corner out of the way until next spring. Replace them by pots full of summer bedding plants.

For all year background interest you could have your evergreens and grasses; conifers also do well in pots and their size is kept in check.

A good plant for autumn interest is Skimmia, they don't mind low light and are great in pots. click here to see a selection from Crocus

• Planting under a Leylandii Hedge - I need some advice on a stretch of garden outside my back door. It measures about 3.6m from kitchen step to neighbour’s fence. On the neighbour’s side there is a row of leylandii about 10ft high on our side there is a narrow shaped bed border by a gravel path. Share and Enjoy: ...
• Flower Bulb Storage - I have been offered a large number of bulbs via a friend who deals in bankrupt stock. My garden is currently in the planning stage and I won’t be able to plant them until late spring at the earliest. I know that spring flowering bulbs should be in the ground by now anyway. Can I ...
• Moving Gooseberries and Blackcurrants - Can gooseberry and blackcurrant bushes be dug up and moved at this time of year? Some of the bushes are old bushes some are two year old bushes.Any advice on winter pruning the bushes after having been moved. Share and Enjoy: ...
• Pruning Clematis Jackmanii - We have a clematis Niobe, which we have had for 5 or 6 years, it has never been cut back hard as the original label said to just trim. We now understand that it should have been cut back hard each year.At the moment it has pairs of healthy buds high up, with no pairs ...
• Pruning Yew - You can cut yew back very hard if you want to, as well as helping to keep the tree in good shape it also promotes new growth. Share and Enjoy: ...

Our local council have decided to grass over four of the flower beds along our road due to cost cutting. They have said that they will consider alternative use of the beds i.e. monument or alternate designs. It has to be low maintenance and be appropriate for the seaside setting as the cliffs are about 200yards away. Can you offer any design ideas or websites that I can use to get advice.

Answer:

Hello, thank you for your email. What a shame you council have decided to remove the flower beds. However, I think one solution that would work well in terms of location and minimal maintenance is to produce gravel gardens. Basically they can remove existing planting and check that the soil is sandy and free draining, if not they can mix in a good quantity of gravel. Add sheets of weed suppressing membrane then top off with gravel and some decorative boulders, stones, driftwood etc. For planting they should use grasses as they will look good for most of the year and only need cutting back once a year, usually in the spring.

I suppose if this is thought to be too much maintenance they can just plant one or two (depending on the size of the beds) pampas grasses in each bed. They require little or no maintenance and can be quite impressive when in full flower.

Another idea, although not exactly coastal in design is to use prostrate woody plants such as Cotoneaster horizontalis, Cotoneaster dammeri, Pyracantha (instead of training it against a wall let it spread along the ground). These plants will soon cover a large area and once establish require no maintenance at all. If a weed suppressing membrane is laid before planting then the weeds should be kept away until the plants establish. An added bonus is that the berries in autumn will feed the local garden birds and the flowers in spring attract butterflies and bees. The links are to Crocus.co.uk to show you what the plants look like.

• Clay Soil - I have very bad soil that is impossible to dig, it has a lot of clay in it. How can I break this down and make the soil soft and ready to plant. I am not frightened of a bit of hard work. Share and Enjoy: ...
• Wildflower Gardening - Every year I spend hundreds of pounds on my garden, and every year everything dies. I would like a wild flower garden, that will attract butterflies and bees, I have loads of elderberry trees behind my back fence, which hang over into my garden (which I like) they attract the birds, I would also like ...
• Moving Monkey Puzzle Tree - We have planted a monkey puzzle tree from a container it did not have very big roots but looked very healthy a couple of the bottom branches are dying but the rest looks ok can you give me any advice on growing and feeding my tree as I would hate to lose it. Share and Enjoy: ...
• Black Bamboo - Phyllostachys nigra - I have a small garden and have recently purchased a black bamboo plant which is about 7 ft tall. I am aware that the plant can put out runners for some distance, and bamboos tend to be agressive. Would it be advisable to plant this bamboo with a barrier around it to prevent agressive spreading ...