QUESTION
Hi I have been growing runner beans for years and share the plants that I have grown with my mother. For the last 2 years she has had lovely flowers on the beans and beautiful beans however mine get to the bud stage and fall off? What is causing this? I didn't think anything attacks the flowers or could it be birds?
Thanks, Carol

ANSWER
Your most likely culprit is lack of water. Runner Beans need plenty of water, water every day at flowering time. Also to help the flowers set and not drop off it is advisable to spray the plants in the late evening with a fine mist spray.

You may be short of insects to pollinate the flowers, next year plant a couple of multi head sunflowers nearby to attract the bees, etc. You should prepare the land in the winter digging in some farmyard manure or horse manure if available. Also, at the same time, apply a generous amount of garden lime to make the soil more fertile.

QUESTION
My home has a built on brick flower planter on the front of my house, which gets almost no sun during the day. I do not have a green thumb, nor am I a plant person. Is there something that I could plant in this planter that does not have to have a lot of up-keep (no weeding preferably), but would fill in. I wish I could find something with color.

As I said, I am not a plant person, so I do not know anything about flowers or what would do good in this plantar. I know it is late in the year, but is there anything that would work now in the planter?
Thanks J

ANSWER
You could plant an evergreen dwarf azalea, surrounded by winter flowering heathers, the azalea will flower in spring and early summer. Also plant a few winter flowering pansies around the edge of the planter.

QUESTION
I have an ivy plant, which in the last 2 months has developed a powdery white substance on its leaves, which then converts to a honey base substance. I would like to know more in regards to this.
Thank you.

ANSWER
This could be powdery mildew or grey aphids or a mixture of the two. Spray with a systemic mildew spray, a systemic spray is absorbed by the plant and acts from within. Also spray with a systemic aphid spray. Be aware ivy has a waxy surface to the leaves; so one application may not be totally effective.

QUESTION
Hi!
I would like some advise on how to get rid of lilies of the valley and thistle. We dug them up and they are coming back. Will salt kill them?
Thanks! Carol H. Toledo, OH

ANSWER
Spray with Glyphosate systemic weed killer, this is absorbed into the plant and will kill the roots. Glyphosate is available in many brands, best-known brand is Roundup. Be careful not to spray any plants that you wish to keep. Glyphosate is not choosy.

QUESTION
Hello - I just came across your website and hope that you might have a few simple answers for me.... someone just getting into gardening.... We plan to move out of this house by spring '05, but we want to:
A) plant something now in the garden area in front of the house to spruce it up a bit (between now and late fall). This is our current dilemma.
B) consider what to plant/when so that come March...April the front garden looks attractive. (...Is it true that if we want daffodils we should plant the bulbs now?)
The area is only 6' wide (by 4') and there is an 18" high stack of logs behind it - sort of as a wall. On that terrace there is space enough to plant a row of something - but there are 4 Cypress trees behind that- just in front of the house. Oh, and we live in the Lehigh Valley, PA. (i.e. cold, icy, snowy winters).
Any suggestions at all?? We'd really appreciate it.
Thank you, Christine

ANSWER
Now is the time to plant daffodils, if you want a long time display to sell your house plant a mixed bag of daffs some flower early some later some are all yellow some white and some a mixture of colours. Tulips are also good. Warning watch out for squirrels and other rodents digging them out when food is in short supply.

Winter flowering pansies are also good, plant in September, they will flower into spring after a lay off in the worst weather. You can also plant forget-me-nots now for spring flowers, the daffs will grow through the forget-me-nots. In the spring you can buy brightly coloured primroses, in flower, in pots, which you can plant out into your garden to give extra color. The same for spring flowering pansies.

QUESTION
I have planted cherry tomatoes for the first time. I planted them in my flower bed-I do not have a vegetable garden. I also have Monks Hood in this flowerbed and have recently learned they are poisonous. But, I do not know to what extent, i.e. if you eat it, if in the soil which will effect my tomatoes, etc.

These plants are right next to each other and in some cases touching. Should I be worried or should I just enjoy the fruits of my labour. I brought these plants back from a rain soaked spring and am very proud for my first try. Please help. Thank you, Wendy, St. Francis, Maine

ANSWER
Monks Hood
Monks hood are of most danger to horses, unlike a horse you would not eat enough of the plant to kill you, but just just touching the plant can absorb the poison, it could make you feel ill. Growers have found that the hotness of Jalapeno peppers can be affected by the presence of certain other plants, the pollen being transferred by insects. So it is possible that your toms could be affected by the monk's hood. I would advise erring on the side of caution.

QUESTION
My summer squash plants appear healthy but are dropping blossoms and not setting fruit. There are plenty of active bees. What is wrong and how do I cure it?

ANSWER
Your squash plants should have male and female flowers. The female flower has a small squash behind the flower, if this is dropping off with the flower you are short of water, water well early in the day. If the fruit goes rotten soon after the flower has fallen off it has not been fertilised. If this is the case lightly spray the plants just before dark, this encourages the flowers to open first thing in the morning when the insects are most active.

QUESTION
Hello, About four years ago I purchased two F1 geranium plants, which I have successfully over wintered each year. The red one, which is quite a vigorous plant, has readily rooted when I have taken cuttings. However the other geranium which is very unusual, being a fluorescent pink with a scarlet centre, and much admired by all my gardening friends, will not root from cuttings. I have tried just putting them in water to see if roots appear and also with rooting hormone into a rooting compost without success. Please have you got any suggestions. Many thanks
Frances

ANSWER
Some F1 geraniums are very hard to propagate, in Europe today most of the commercial geraniums from cuttings are now produced in Portugal. Most professional growers use a technique called tissue culture, growing minute slices of the plant in a special hormone jelly. This jell is available at garden outlets as hormone rooting jelly and you can grow ordinary cuttings in it. The best time to root cuttings is early spring, as the days get longer the plant produces its own growth hormones.

QUESTION
Hello: I live in southeastern Michigan, and have golden vics, burning bushes, and Vibernum bushes that are too overgrown. When is the best time to prune? Can I do it in august when it is cool (50-70 degrees)?
Thank you

ANSWER
Best to leave to the end of September, then some of the leaves will have fallen and you can see the basic shape of the bush and spot any obviously weak or damaged limbs. If you prune to early various warm weather moulds can damage the bush where it has been pruned.

QUESTION
I have a mimosa (bush, tree or shrub?) It is 2 to 3 years old and growing in a large pot. It is 3ft. tall but has not flowered. I have kept it in the greenhouse during winter and only put it outside as the weather warms. What do I need to do to ensure it flowers next year? What a fantastic web site.
Thank you Sheila

ANSWER
The way to have Mimosa blooms every year is to not let the soil in the container become too dry in March. Also feed with a general-purpose fertiliser in late summer.

QUESTION
Two questions:
Question #1
My top soil has been "groomed" ready for sod laying for some time but has now given me a fine crop of weeds. I want to lay sod this week. If I lay sod on top of weeds will it either: a) inhibit the sod from "taking" ? b) would the weeds come up through the sod? c) cause any other difficulty? d) would it be a good safe thing to use Round Up to kill all vegetation before laying?
Question #2
I live in Canada. Would it make sense to spread 10-52-5 fertilizer underneath the sod at this time of year even with our freezing winters?
Your advice much appreciated. Peter

ANSWER
Spray with a contact herbicide, which will burn off the foliage, do not use Roundup, Roundup is a systemic herbicide and could be absorbed into the lawn sod roots. Putting fertiliser under the sod could possibly burn the grass roots so best not done. Lawn sod from a reputable supplier will have an inbuilt supply of fertiliser to establish growth, any additional fertiliser application would encourage too much tender growth this late on.

August     ------- The last days of Summer, guide     -------

August is still holiday month for many people and while you are away your plants may need some attention, if you have a neighbour or friend who can give your plants some water in hot weather all the better. Failing this, wood chippings or peat spread around the plant roots, then soaked with water will help prevent too much moisture evaporating during a hot summer day.