Alan Titchmarsh webchat

Am holding my breath for a Monty Don one.......much more my cup of tea.

Hi Alan, I would appreciate your advise - even if Hilda doesn't!

I'm part of a small group (eight of us) who've been slowly adding flower tubs around our little market town (the council maintain they're too poor, although they have arranged insurance cover in case a box of plants breaks loose and chases someone down the high street).

It looks as if we may get permission to plant under the town welcome signs out on the main road. Because it's a fast busy road maintainence will be difficult and watering impossible. Please, can you suggest any inexpensive (or they'll get pinched), hardy, colourful plants which would not grow taller than one metre? The soil is good, well drained, neutral touching on acid. Any suggestions would be welcome. Thanks.

How is it best to move container plants, buddleia, rose tree, cherry tree, beech tree from one house to another? Xxx

Hi Alan,

It is a lifetime since my DH & I watched you and Alison in Music Hall shows in BROS! We have mutual friends in Bramley!

My gardening question is about a persistent 'fairy ring' in the grass (lawn would be a bit presumptuous!!) Is there a way to get rid of the toadstools or do I have to wait for them to go on their own?? Efforts so far have not been effective.

Hi Alan,
I recently cleared a small flower bed which is almost always in the shade.
It's behind the back wall of the garage, and is about 6' by 2' . I have left a rambling rose which climbs the garage wall, but cleared some old lavender etc. I thought maybe a flowering shrub might be best now. Or some perennial which likes shade? Any suggestions, and when is the best time to plant?
Thank you Alan.

Hello Alan,
We had a good crop of Moneymaker tomatoes, grown in grow bags in our greenhouse, this year. The only problem was that they had very tough skins. I have resorted to making them into sauce.
This is the first time we have had this problem.
What variety would you suggest we plant next year?

Hi Allan can you help with raspberries. I let runners from old and very productive canes develop into plants in the bed at the side of the old canes but when the fruit on these new canes developed they were very small fruits with four or five berries, when any attempt to pick them they fell away or were nocked off. don't know the name of the raspberries I inherited them. They fruit twice a year May for the birds, Autumn for me. Many thanks for your guidance for so many years.

Hi Alan, you have more recently made quite a name for yourself as an expert on things Royal. Given this and the TV show do you still see yourself as a gardener first and foremost?

Does your interest in royalty stem from the book you did on royal gardens? (Which I have an enjoyed very much)

The Queen's Houses sounds really interesting I have ordered it from Amazon. Did you get special access to all of them? And which did you like the best?

Hi Alan,

I love your show...and your books about the royals! Have you ever met the queen? And if so what was that like?! Is she your favourite royal or who is if not?

Thank you

Hi Alan
I just love your programs they are fab, but I do need your help if possible.
I have recently grown a grape tree (well over a year old now).
How long does it take for the grapes to come?
Many thanks

Hi Alan,

We have a very large garden on fenland soil which is very fertile. Everyone thinks we're lucky but they should try tackling the nettles which have a sting more effective than a taser!!

My biggest problem is what to grow under three apple trees that I planted alongside a path. There's a clump of lovage that follows snowdrops and tulips but it doesn't seem to matter what I plant either side of it as the nettles soon reappear despite digging out the roots and/or treating with glyphosate. Mulching doesn't work for long - they soon push through it.

I suppose I could leave the nettles for wildlife but then the postman wouldn't be able to get up the path.

Hello
We did try to restrict the roots of our fig tree with slates when it was planted but it has become far too large and I have to do something about it. Can I prune it very hard, or will that just make it even more vigorous? It is about 10 years old and we have never had a fig which ripened enough to eat. We live in east Cornwall and it is on the garage wall, facing south but a bit shaded by other large trees.
(It is by the path the postman takes to go next door and he is almost having to crawl through it.)

This April/May I planted tomatoes for the first time in my plastic greenhouse. They have only started to go red in the last few weeks.
Why have they taken so long to turn?
I am thinking of starting my veg/tomatoes a lot earlier next year maybe Jan/ Feb next year, and starting them off inside my house.
Will this allow them to turn a lot earlier

Good morning Alan,
Have you any tips for getting rid of bamboo? I don't want to use viscious chemicals because of our cat and other wildlife, but the wretched stuff pops up everywhere. The rhizomes are too tough to dig out ourselves and now it has crept under the fence to the rented house next door where nothing will be done about it. Help! (Please)

Welcome, Alan. I am interested in your views on artificial turf. At the moment I can manage my steeply sloping lawn (photo on my profile if you have time to look) by wearing crampons, but don't know what I will do when I can no longer mow it. Would you recommend paying somebody to cut the grass or is the better quality fake stuff effective? It would have to withstand badgers and other wildlife trooping up and down every night! Thanking you in anticipation.

Hi Alan,

I do believe you are a grandparent. Me too! My first grandchild was born three months ago, and I am absolutely besotted. We were recently asked on Gransnet what we feel puts the 'grand' in Grandparenting, I was wondering what your response to this would be?

And also how you think it differs to being a parent?

Thanks so much!

Hello Alan from a fellow Yorkie - only I'm not from posh Ilkley but pre-Summer Wine Holmfirth when it was a small, back-water mill town. Now live in posh Hampshire though!

My question is about a prunus tree in our small garden, which we pruned right back last year and which has grown enormously again this year.No idea what variety as it was here when we bought this house. The flowers are pale pink in spring and it produces a few very hard plum sized fruits.
Should we prune it back and if so how hard? It does rather dominate at its present size.

Thanks in advance.

Am I right in thinking you have now written a gazillion books? Which out of all of them do you like the best (or are most proud of) and why

oops am i allowed another? Alan, do you prefer making programmes about or writing about the royals?

Can I ask a second question please? We are planning a 'quiet garden' at our church. What kind of shrubs would be the most use for those who do the flowers? (I don't have the flower arranging gene, just shove 'em in a vase.)

Hello Alan I would love to ask you about the best way to get a young child (3) interested in gardening. I have had so much pleasure from it over the years I would like to pass this on to my grandchildren

With all the books and programmes you have done on the royals I would love to know if you have a favourite. And indeed (if it's not treasonable) a least favourite?