Alan Titchmarsh webchat

annebooth768

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

Early sowing is seldom successful unless you can provide both heat and light which are in short supply in January and February. April is, indeed, the best month to plant greenhouse tomatoes in an unheated greenhouse so I suggest you try a couple of different varieties and see which does best.

Purpledaffodil

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)

This points up the importance of choosing clump-bamboos rather than those which spread rampantly. Alas, there is no easy solution to getting rid of them but a vertical barrier of something like roof slates or thick plastic sheeting will halt their spread. Can I suggest that you lay your hands on a strong man with a spade or a pickaxe to get rid of what is already causing a problem. Sorry!

shysal

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.

The choice is really up to you. If you can afford to pay somebody to cut the grass at least once a fortnight then real grass is always preferable. That said, the new kinds of artificial turf are so much better than they used to be and do look like the real thing. However, on a slope it will need to be properly anchored and I should take advice from a specialist firm before going ahead and replacing your existing grass. I do sympathise!

nananew

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!

For me the greatest thing about being a grandparent is a sense of completeness; it's almost like completing a circle in that the next generation after your own children allow you to see life continuing. I was babysitting last night and I seem to enjoy reading bedtime stories more than ever before. It really is very special. Added to that, the two and a half year old boy is very keen on being outside in the garden. Bliss!

Gagagran

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.

Like me you are obviously doing missionary work down south! The problem with prunus trees is that many of them resent pruning and it rather badly affects their shape. But if the tree is getting in the way, prune it now, cutting out what needs to be removed but doing your best to maintain its overall shape without leaving it looking butchered. It seems to me to be a classic example of a tree being planted in the wrong place. The alternative would be to replace it with something smaller. Good luck!

kaybh

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

I think I am up to seventy-something but I started very young!!!

I think of all of them the one of which I am most proud is 'My Secret Garden,' which details the making of my present garden and has brilliant photographs by Jonathan Buckley. It has been 12 years in the making, and I love it to bits! Lucky chap!

kaybh

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

I enjoy the sociability of television programmes and the solitude of writing and the one I would find hardest to give up would be the writing.

suzyl

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

The most important thing is that small children actually enjoy being outdoors, even if it is only making mud pies, digging up worms and finding beetles. Introduce them to gardening slowly by planting a pansy and counting its flowers, or picking (and eating!) strawberries and then gradually introduce them to sowing seeds of things that grow quite quickly such as radishes and nasturtiums. The most important thing is that you make it as pleasurable as possible.

Galen

Hi Alan. Please solve a dispute between me and Gary the gardner. He insists tomatos are planted late, while I think they should be about Jan/February. I'm cross as in spite of a really good summer my tod are still green.

It's really only possible to plant tomatoes in January and February if you have a heated greenhouse that never falls below 18 degrees celsius, any lower than this and the plant will sulk. So, I'm afraid Gary the gardener is right! Sorry!

Jules31

Hello Alan - my message is a simple one. I've planted four David Austin climbing roses against a trellis and three of them have developed shoots sporting seven leaves as opposed to the usual five. Thinking they were briars, I've cut most of them off at the base, but having left a few I see they are now flowering, in spite of having seven leaves! I have always thought that seven leaves indicates a male shoot so I'm a little perplexed! Could you please explain? Many thanks, Julia

This is an old wives tale I'm afraid. The five leaves/ seven leaves rule really doesn't reliably apply. Tie in any shoots which grow from well-above the ground (that is above the union where the variety is grafted onto the root stock) and they will flower reliably. Hopefully I'm not too late.

GrandmaGrace

Hi Alan, I'm determined to plant some bulbs in our garden this year. Can you give me some tips? What is a good selection and when they should go out? I'm always unsure how much space they need and whether you can plant other plants on top of them when they die off in the summer?

Now is a great time to plant daffodils, narcissi, and even tulips. You can plant them to three times the depth of the bulbs in gaps between perennials and shrubs in your borders and they can be left to come up year-after-year. Always leave the foliage intact for six weeks after flowering so that the leaves can feed the bulbs and encourage the production of next year's flowers. You'll be glad you planted them!

annodomini

Horsetail. If I turn my back, next time I look there's a forest of the stuff up to my knees. If I put a membrane down on the bed that's worst affected, will it kill it off or will they force their way through?

Horsetail is a real pain since its roots travel very deeply. It will respond to frequent hoeing and decapitation but it does take some time to weaken. By all means cover the ground with weed-proof membrane but weight it down with chipped bark. It may well be two or three years before eradication is effected. The best of luck.

bunnygran

Hello Alan,

You've really inspired me to get back to gardening and it's brought back so many memories of my grandmother's garden - so my question is this: do you have any fond memories of your grandparents gardens? And (I recently read that you are also a grandparent yourself) does it bring back memories when you spend time gardening with your grandchildren?

I helped my granddad on his allotment and now my two and a half year old grandson helps me in my garden which is a wonderful squaring of the circle.

nananew

Hi Alan, final question as I plan to get in the garden this weekend and thought why not ask you for tips...what do you recommend to do in the garden in October...before winter really sets in?

Also, I'm very intrigued to know what your own garden is like? And who maintains it?!

Thanks

I'm madly planting bulbs at the moment- in large pots, in beds and borders, and where they can be allowed to grow through grass. It's a great way of looking forward to spring. You can see my garden in 'My Secret Garden' and I do love it. Sue and Bill have been gardening with me for 30 years now, but we do manage 35 acres of wild flower meadow and woodland as a nature reserve in addition to two acres of garden. My grandchildren adore exploring and they know how lucky we are.

It has been great talking to you all and I hope that you have managed to get something useful out of the encounter. Even HildaW ;)

All the best,

Alan