Live webchat with gardening expert Phil McCann, today, 1-2pm

ameliaanne

I have an indoor chilli plant which has produced lots of chillies this year. However, it has slowed down in the past two months and the chillies haven't matured. There are also tiny flies which sometimes appear when the plant is touched. Do I have a pest problem and is it the slow season now? Your advice would be appreciated. Many thanks.

Dear ameliaanne,
yep the season is slowing down now due to the longer nights and colder temperatures. Chillies grow and produce fruit when the summer is sizzling. Chances are the chillies on your plant won't now ripen - pick them, hang them up and use them dried. However, it doesn't mean the end of the plant as they can be kept ticking over winter. Reduce the watering, keep it frost free ( if on a windowsill bring the plant the room side when you draw the curtains) and it will be fine. Little flies - on the plant? Possibly whiteflies and they can cause trouble indoors over winter due to central heating keeping them going. Any organic spray based on soap will do the trick and won't taint the fruits (the legal bit - always read the label before use blah blah blah!! You know what to do) Some other gardeners have suggested using a drop of washing up liquid ( the organic type) in tapwater for such pests - but I can't suggest it because washing up liquid isn't made for that purpose () And yes, just found the smiley things and worked out how to put them in here! The same stuff will sort out any small flies on the compost - very common at this time of year.

toria100

I live in Aberdeenshire and winters can be very cold. I have a polytunnel for the first time this year. I have grown a lot of perrenial flower plants from seed. A lot of them too small to plant out as it was quite late in the season before the tunnel was up and running.
What should I do to ensure that they survive the winter given that last year we were down to -20c at times?

What a show off! A polytunnel is a fantastic acquisition to a garden. You say perennials and imagine most are ‘hardy’ – but a solid minus 20 freezing for weeks on end can cause damage. So, play it safe and group your trays and pots into one end (the end away from the door to avoid draughts) and construct a simple frame around your tender seedlings. Cover the frame with polythene and bingo – a greenhouse within a polytunnel. This will be more than enough – but hardy perennials are tougher than you think and will survive short blasts of nasty conditions. You can do a bit more in any greenhouse by lining the glass with bubble wrap – but again group plants together to save money on bubble wrap and any heating you might use. And I’m jealous of that polytunnel!

pudding

Hi Phil, I am thinking of turning a small area of my garden over to veg growing. I've only grown ornamental plants beforehand, but think it would be lovely to grow some of my own vegetables. Do you have any suggestions for the easiest things to start with? I am very keen on asparagus and beans, but don't know whether these take a lot of attention (I work, so only have a limited time). What are the best root vegetables to start with?

Pudding - good decision! You can't beat the taste of home grown ( once you have grown your own cauliflower nothing, and I mean nothing, will persuade you back to frozen or shop bought - same with peas, and carrots, and of course spuds, not to mention toms straight from the plant, or cucumber ( our 6 year year old Freddie's favourite) Sorry, got carried away there.
Easiest - potatoes. Dig a trench, place the certified virus free seed potatoes ( at all garden centres and mail order from February) water well and lift in four months. Brilliant. Beans - you can't fail to get a crop of runner beans ( Enorma is a great variety) and French beans - grow them in containers for fantastic results. Carrots are easy if you grow a variety called Flyaway and have sandy, stone free soil. Caulis may be one for a couple of years time as they can be tricky - I'll send you one of mine next year to whet your appetite for what's in store once you get the GYO veg bug ( and no sprays will get rid of that particular bug!) Oh, asparagus is a long term crop, sits in the soil for decades and takes three years from planting to your first cutting ( depends on how much you really like asparagus) and beans - easy!

pompa

Hello Phil, I have a hardy banana (Musa Basjoo) which is at present in a tub. It has however got too big to move, so must be planted permanently in the garden next spring. How should I over winter it in future, do I cut the leaves off before wrapping it up etc. I live in North East Essex.

Bananas are getting more popular an even in East Essex, or especially in East Essex, your plant could survive outdoors before planting into the ground next spring ( lots of organic matter at planting time please) Musa basjoo is the hardiest banana around but just in case winter is another bad ‘un play safe and wrap it up. Cut off the dead leaves, create a chicken wire frame around the plant and stuff with straw or hessian . This will allow the plant to ‘breathe’ whilst keeping it snug. A hat made from polystyrene will keep most of the rain off. That should do the trick. Good luck!

jabberwocky

Hi Phil - I'm new to Gransnet and this is a great opportunity to get some good gardening advice. I've recently moved to a house with a space called a garden that in fact was once an outdoor museum: the ground is compacted by vehicles and people that used to drive and walk over it and there are also areas of rubble and broken concrete, so you see that I've got my work cut out for the next few years! When we moved in some bamboo planted along a wall was 20ft high and I have repeatedly poisoned it with Roundup tree stump liquid, but it's still coming back. Even the parts that seem to have died off have enormous root systems. Please, please can you suggest ways of finally getting rid of it so that the land can be cleard for something less invasive!

New to Gransnet - snap!!
Sounds like you have a real project on your hands! I have to say the outdoor museum sounds fascinating – but your bamboo doesn’t! Bamboos can be thuggish and hard to get rid of. You are doing the right thing, if you don’t mind using chemicals, by using a product containing glyphosate. It travels through any green part of the plant, down into the roots and kills. It is deactivated in the soil so doesn’t hang around causing trouble. However, it can take a few doses to kill a big plant. Keep at it. You could then dig out the roots to free up some soil space. If you are clearing the whole site of old cars and the like, surely a mechanical digger can get under the roots and heave the whole lot out once and for all? So it’s either a digger (great fun if you are allowed to operate the machinery!),or a good spade ( bad back?) or lots of repeated spraying ( costly?) – But decide on one or more and do it – it would be great to see some pics of the garden before and after your endeavors. Good luck.

grandmabet

Hi, I wonder if you can give me some guidance on walnuts. My daughter has just acquired three flourishing trees but we're all at a loss as to know when is the optimum time to pick and how do we know from the outside if they are ready to eat? Some are very light and I wonder if there is anything inside them at all. We were also warned that if we don't get there in time the squirrels will. Would appreciate your advice as there is such a bumper crop.

As your daughter already knows, walnuts thrive in areas out of strong winds and extremes of temperatures. Harvesting however is a little tricky as you have to beat both the crows and the squirrels. Walnuts picked in June are best for pickling (they are ready if you can push a skewer through the nuts) but October is the main month for harvesting. You can use a long stick to get the nuts from the tree – this gets the nuts (obviously!) but also removes any dead branches and reduces the possibility of diseases spreading through the stem. It can also stimulate late summer shoot formation – and for a plant that flowers at the tips of stems this is quite useful in helping produce a great crop next year. Put on some gloves to avoid staining your skin , take off any husks, and there you go – baskets of nuts for Christmas. The only thing is you have to beat the wildlife who sometimes are quicker than you to the harvest.

grannieannie41

We have a wonderful gunnera and want to prepare it for the winter. What do I do with the seed pods when I cut the leaves and put them on the heart for protection?

Gunnera or Giant Rhubarb is a truly impressive plant. Leaves so big you can shelter under them in wet weather, but as you say, it does need some winter protection. Any seed pods need removing before you break the larger leaves over the crown – and the seeds need to be kept in a cool dry place. They then should be sown in early spring as they lose their viability very quickly. You’ll need some gentle heat from a propagator to get them up and growing. You could leave them on the plant but you run the risk of hungry mice having a nibble. As for the plant – wrapped up with a cover of its own leaves it will sit quite happily until next spring – just keep an eye on the plant every fortnight or so to make sure nothing is rotting near the crown.
Right, time for another tea, check it isn't still raining ( it is!) and onto the next question...back in a minute.

GeraldineGransnet

Well, according to the Gransnet hourglass, that's time up for questions - but Phil has very nobly agreed to stay on and mop up a few that are still outstanding. In the meantime, a big thankyou from all gransnetters for some very helpful tips and enticing suggestions. Despite already having had lunch, we've got hungry just thinking about all that asparagus and delicious little potatoes. And we are very much looking forward to that cauliflower! We'll post Phil's answers in full on the webchat pages in the next few days.

And a massive thanks from me - great questions. Kettles boiled, tea is brewing so back in a sec..

toria100

I have a 10 year old Robinia and a philadelphus. Both have never been pruned and are spindly and bare at the bottom.
The philadephus has very few flowers and the leaves on the Roninia are quite small and not very red.
Should I prune these and when? bearing in mind that I live in Aberdeenshire and winters are very cold.
Would feeding them help?

You back again! Not content with a swanky polytunnel you now want to sort out a couple of shrubs – can’t blame you asking on a rainy day like this! Philadelphus – the mock orange has beautifully scented flowers in early summer – and these flowers are produced on wood that was made the previous year. So, if you prune in winter chances are you are actually pruning out branches laden with the flower buds ( I know, I’ve done it!) The best time to prune philadelphus is straight after flowering. This gives the plant time to produce new branches, get some flower buds on there ready for next years flower. However, if yours is a bit straggly and not much cop, I would be tempted to cut it hard back over winter, forfeit any flowers for a year to help create a strong plant for the coming decade or so. Sounds like a fair deal to me! Next, your robinia. You say red leaves and that suggests it is actually a Red Robin ( or a Photinia Red Robin) – great growing near your philadelphus when the glossy red leaves are…..doing what yours aren’t doing! If it is a Photinia Red Robin then don’t be afraid to get stuck into it in late winter / early spring to again, rejuvenate the plant. Feeding is a good idea but not now – do it in spring, use a general fertilizer and not too much as soft growth is easily damaged by spring frosts. Hope that helps.

octogran

Hi Phil, welcome to Gransnet. I have a garden with a lot of Mediterranean-type plants - thyme, santolina, lavenders, hebes, myrtle, with more perennials for temporary colour. The only trouble is that after July there's not much colour apart from a few bits of verbena bonariensis. Can you suggest any plants that would go with the above and provide (preferably long-lasting) colour through August and September?

Dear Octogran,
It sounds like a great garden - and if you put in a few asters with either blue or starry white flowers, and a couple of clumps of rudbeckia I'm sure your display will last well into early winter. Rosemary is also terrific at flowering almost the whole year round ( I have had flowers on New Years day a couple of years ago) and this will certainly go well in your garden. In fact, it will thrive in your conditions. Hope that helps extend the interest in your garden.

flighty

I had three arbutus trees in large pots against a wall but they have succumbed to disease. I don't know if this was the way I kept them; I was told that lots of arbutus trees had died in Britain. Anyway, I am looking for something of similar size that would give an architectural shape against a grey wall but that isn't a succulent or too exotic-looking. Any suggestions?!

Dear Flighty,
You are not alone - Arbutus, or Strawberry trees, were knocked around a bit by the weather last winter. They also are attacked by sooty moulds so it may be that ( or a combination) that has called time on your trees. Anyway, they've gone, you are moving on and I love a plant called Garrya elliptica. It has a simlar coloured leaf to your Arbutus, is evergreen, grows on North facing walls (or anywhere really), looks and is tough and produces masses of silvery grey catkins in the depths of winter. You can grow it in pots or in the soil against the wall. I also love magnolias and Magnolia stellata is perfect for container growing - not sure if that is too exotic looking? You won't go wrong with the garrya though!

whizzgran

Can you suggest some plants for spring colour and preferably scent in a North-facing, slightly damp area of garden underneath some acers? Thanks!

You don't ask for much do you!
Lily-of-the-valey immediately springs to mind - highly tolerant of the conditions you describe and come on, if you want scent then you'll have it with a few clumps of this fantastic plant. You can buy dried plants or growing, and flowering, specimens from most garden centres in spring. I'd also have a go with some cyclamen - great colour, scented if you can get close enough and once established and happy will form fantastic clumps. Hellebores will do well as will lamium and vinca. Or even try planting lilies in containers elsewhere in the garden and placing them in your troublesome spot when in full flower. It's only temporary but will add colour and scent. Use the space as an ever changing display area!

flopsybunny

I grow tomatoes, lettuces of various kinds and runner beans in pots - all very successfully until the slugs get them, when I am left with shredded leaves, slimy trails and, this year, not a single bean. I don't really want netting etc because these pots are partly ornamental. Is there any slug/snail preparation I can use that is safe for human health? I wash the veg, obviously, but it still makes me uncomfortable putting chemicals on it. If I use the blue pellets I see them on the earth and they make me feel slightly sick - I don't much fancy eating my produce afterwards.

Dear flopsybuny ( or can I call you Flopsy?!)
I know what you mean - pellets, even organic ones, look awful on the soil. You can try mulches of gravel around your plants - anything scratchy will put slugs and snails off - but to be honest, the munching molluscs still find a way. I suggest using a natural predator of slugs - nematodes. You buy them either mail order or from chiller units in smarter garden centres, mix them with water and sprinkle the whole lot of them onto the soil. Once in the soil the nematodes ( or microscopic worms) wait and pounce on passing slugs. Once in ( and if you are eating at the moment put the food down) they burrow under the skin of the slug, and multiply. They carry a natural parasite on them which kills the slug. The slug then.....bursts open releasing millions more nematodes into the soil, complete with slug parasite to wait for the next slug to come along. Sounds good? I thought so. You can only put them on when the soil is warm and there are slugs around and active - read the pack before use! Good luck.

phoenix

Hello Phil,

I won't be able to "watch" as I will be at work, but I would very much appreciate your advice re my cordyline.

Like many, it suffered badly through last winters snow, and we actually thought it was dead. We were advised to cut it down drastically, which we did. It has now sprouted lots of "baby" plants, not from the stem but coming up through the compost (it is in a very large pot).

Can I take some of these and pot them up to grow on, and give some to others, and if so how should I do it?

I did "lift" a couple earlier in the summer and pot them up, but they didn't seem to have any roots and just died.

I now have a pot with the stem of the old plant, and lots of new plants around it, what should I do?

Thanks in advance!

Dear Phoenix,
Hope you had a good day at work. Cordylines were probably one of the most damaged plants last winter. It was great advice to chop it right down - this encourages once dormant buds to grow. And now you have babies! The best thing is to rummage around the baby shoots and cut from the parent plant with as much root attached to the cutting as possible. These can then be potted up into well drained comost ( multipurpose with a handful of extra grit is good) and put in a cool place such as a cold greenhouse or cool windowsill. Keep them watered, mist occasionally and they will grow. Do it all in spring. If the cuttings don't have any roots - do the same but exercise more patience! Keep them out of strong sunlight for best results. Now get your coat off, have something to eat and remember - only one more day at work before the weekend!

Carol

Phil, I have had loads of strawberries in my raised 1 metre square bed this year and plan to move a few plants shortly, to another raised bed. I have been plagued by small slugs, which have eaten chunks out of the strawberries so a lot of been wasted. Can you advise how much I can wash off and clip away from the plants to avoid taking slugs and their eggs into the new bed, please? And is there any particular raised bed that will make it less likely for slugs to get in there? (I have seen some beehive shaped ones that look good, but don't want to spend over £100 to find the slugs are still enjoying my strawberies). Thank you.

Dear Carol,
I know the problem - slugs love strawberries ( you can't blame them though!) Right - you can cut back your strawberries really hard. A severe hair cut, leaving an inch or so of tufty leaves is fine. You can also wash the roots clean of all soil. The plants are after, dormant and quite tough. So, a haircut, a root wash and off to pastures new. Slugs will however find them ( sorry for being miserable!) and most tunnel up from down below to the soil surface to feed. Pellets ( organic ones are available) do work. Grit can help but nematodes are brilliant - see my info in flopsybuny query a few minutes ago. It isn't for the sqeamish! Hope that helps and come Wimbledon next year your strawbs are in fine fettle.

ouimerci

I grew a good crop of tomatoes this year in a container, but they had tough skins and tasted a bit bland. I could buy better ones in the farmers' market. What is the best variety to combine decent cropping with good flavour which you can grow in a container?

Thanks!

Ouimerci - bland toms? No thanks!
There are hundreds of tomato varieties to choose from and to be honest, when it comes to taste we are all different. First of all lets look at the way you are growing them. Toms like it warm and if grown in cooler conditions outside they are going to have tough skins. Maybe the ones at the markets are grown in polytunnels (ask toria100 for some space!!!) Keep them well and regularly watered - if they go dry they toughen up. And feed them. Gardeners swear that different feeds add flavour to their toms - one gardener I know uses a brew made from steeped sheep manure. I'm more of a seaweed extract gardener! Right, the varieties - I like Ferline for taste and its disease resistance and I adore Costoluto Fiorentino for its taste and name! Neither will let you down in the taste or cropping stakes.

whyte

Our small front garden wall has been damaged by the roots of cherry trees. What quick growing plant can I buy that will cover it and disguise the damage?

Dear Whyte,
Ok, I guess the cherry stays as it sounds a big 'un and will be quite a spectacular site in spring. What about taking the wall down and putting up fence? The odd fence post being dislodged is easier to repair than the obviously damaged footings of a wall. But as a stop gap try periwinkle - it grows like lightening and has either blue or white flowers. It will romp away though. I'm sure you've thought of ivy - there are some lovely varieties and not all are brutes. A variety called Ivalace is a lovely one. And don't forget to squeeze some bulbs into the soil around the roots and wall - dwarf daffs can go in now and will look a treat next spring. However, I'd lose the wall completely and put a low fence up - or even a low growing hedge of wild roses. They are easy to grow and look after themselves. Hope that helps!

eggmayo

I don't really have any 'light in a window' space for me to grow indoor plants, though I'd really like to. Are there any that can either live outside during the cold winter or can deal with not having any light? I like the idea of chillies, as above, but not if this really is the slow season as ameliaanne suggested.
Thanks Phil

Oh no, it's happened twice - I've replied and both have disappeared. I can't find my previous answers ( and I've mentioned your name and me being more of a cheese and pickle man - it was one of my favourite answers!)
So if you can't here it is again....
chillies need protection from the cold and light to survive the winter. Left outside they will be severely damaged by the first frosts ( we've already had a couple here in the Midlands) so, sorry - they're not for you. But you can spend many happy hours over winter choosing a variety that suits your taste ( all new collections are out now);sow in spring, pot up and put out in a sunny position next June and enjoy chillies all summer long. Sounds good? Be warned - you can get carried away planning next year so be careful! Right, I'm going to post this and hopefully it will appear....