Question.
    Hi, I faithfully water and regularly feed my hanging baskets, but I've had 3 trailing petunias (surfinia?) totally whither. Is there a bug causing the problem - what can I do?
Kind Regards Frank

Answer.
    Surfinia sometimes suffer from a virus related to potato blight. This can be in the plants when you buy them and the plants just die.

Question.
    Our pastor is disappointed in his fig trees.... the tree looks strong... it produces figs but when they get to about the size of your thumb they fall off the tree... what can he do to get the figs to mature and not fall off the tree so soon?

Answer.
    If your fig tree dries out while trying to grow fruit, the figs will often drop or turn into unappealing small rock hard figs. Make sure that your tree is well mulched and that the roots have constant moisture.

Question.
    I have forget me nots along the perimeter of my hedge and they were lovely in the spring. Now they look dead and straggly. What should I do next? They don't look very attractive but I am afraid that if I pull them up, I won't have them in the spring.
Eileen.

Answer.
    Forget-me-nots are biennial plants which means they flower in the second year of growth. Lightly trim of the dead and straggly growth, some of these plants will grow anew, but new young plants from seed will already be growing for spring flowering.

Question.
    Is there a weed killer that I could use to kill weeds in my rose garden, without harming my roses? There are no other plants in that bed, just the various roses. Thank you, I sincerely appreciate your help and advice.
Deborah

Answer.
    You can buy contact herbicides, which will kill all green plant material. Spraying carefully around the base of the roses you can avoid spraying your rose's leaves and flowers. The herbicide will not damage the woody stems of the roses. Contact herbicides are widely available at garden outlets. Contact herbicides are neutralised when they come into contact with the soil.

Question.
    Please can you advise me why I seem to have tomatoes growing on the stems of my container grown potatoes.

Answer.
    The tomatoes on your potato plants are actually the seedpods of the potato plant. Tomatoes and potatoes are related plants, that is why they are similar. Do not eat them they are not edible.

Question.
    Morning Glory Vines. I have them growing on a railing and want to know if I can cut the 'feelers' to keep them from getting longer without hurting the rest of the vines?
Thanks Lynne

Answer.
    Morning glory vines are an annual plant, which means that at the end of summer and the winter frosts they will be dead. Therefore a little pruning to shape will do no harm in the long run as they are just for the summer.

Question.
    Hello, I wonder if you can help. A neighbour of mine has got 2 Mimosas, and neither have flowered, he has got them in a large tub, in a south facing garden, What do you think is wrong with them?

Also a couple of questions myself, How long do Antirrhinums flower for, and we have a Wisteria that has never flowered, I think it is a Japanese one, we have had it for about 4 years, and have recently moved it in a better location in our south facing garden. It seems quite hardy. Do you have any suggestions?
Regards Rosemary

Answer.
    Mimosa. Possibly winter winds are chilling the flower buds, try moving to a sheltered area during winter. Antirrhinum can flower all summer on and off. Wisteria takes about 5 years before flowering if a grafted cutting, 15 years if it is grown from seed. Now you have moved it, it could take another 5 years.

Question.
    Hello there, I have a question I would like to ask.
I have some lovely perennial sweet peas that, as predicted, have become invasive. I would like to thin and transplant some. When would be the best time? Fall after bloom and frost or spring as they begin to sprout. I live in zone #5 in the USA.
Thanks a lot, Maryann

Answer.
    Perennial sweet peas.
Move late fall, cut the growth down to about 9 inches in length, this will leave wood for the new shoots to grow from. Some cattle manure in the planting hole would be of benefit

Question.
    Hello,
We have moved to a bungalow in the country which too our pleasure had a well established wisteria growing something that we hadn't had much luck growing at our old property, we moved here in march and the garden was quite a mess, we cut the wisteria back a bit and in may were rewarded with this show of flowers as you can see these Lasted about a month but we have just noticed a lot of new racemes breaking out in beautiful flowers, but all the books we have brought as we are now turning into Percy Throwers! Don't say they flower twice is this unusual?
Sue

Answer.
    Wisteria is grafted on to a separate disease resistant, wild, rootstock, usually white, but sometimes a blue one is used. These second flowers could be growth from the rootstock or the grower could have accidentally grafted two slightly different varieties on to the rootstock, more than one graft is used in case of graft failure.

If there is growth from below the graft line, these are from the rootstock and are best removed.

Question.
    How can I eliminate the crab grass in my lawn? I fertilize...usually the Scots 5 step program...but I can't seem to get a handle on the crab grass.
Thanks.

Answer.
    Your lawn is low in alkalinity; you need to spread a generous dose of garden lime to make the soil less acid. You can spray against the crab grass seedlings in spring with a pre emergence weed killer. Best time is forsythia flowering time.

You can spray now with a selective weed killer for crabgrass. There are many sprays on the market for your purpose, but their chemical composition varies according to climate zone. Ask at your garden outlet for a suitable product. Do not spray if you have recently applied lime, there could be a chemical reaction.

Question.
    Hello,
I have a yucca plant outside that is about 26 yrs old and has never been divided. It just got finished blooming, had 2 stalks of flowers as usual.

I don't know how to divide it, and with a shovel or what? Hope its not going to require a lot of strength, since I am an older and single female!

Also...have an old clematis (White), used to bloom all summer with huge flowers. But last several years, it only blooms once, with few flowers. What do I need to do to encourage blooming? A couple years ago, I chopped it down short on someone's advice, but it is grown back up again. Does it need a good fertilizer, and if so can you recommend one?
Thank you very much, CJ

Answer.
    Yucca
Dig up the plant. Wash the majority of the soil away from the roots so that you can easily see where to make the division. Some plants can be divided by gently pulling off sections of the root, while other plants may require a sharp knife to cut through the roots.

You can also divide by inserting two garden forks back to back in the centre of the root and then prising the root apart. Each section must have enough healthy roots to sustain growth. If any part of the root looks dead cut it out. Leave the job until the end of September when the heat of summer has gone and the plants will need less moisture to recover.

Clematis.
You need a low nitrogen fertiliser say 5-20-20 mixture. Your clematis also needs some garden lime to bring up the alkalinity of the soil, also a small amount of Epsom salts (magnesium sulphate) to add trace elements. Some farmyard manure, if you can obtain it, would also be of benefit.

Question.
    I have some pumpkins, which seem to be dying where the main stems contact with ground...see photo. The remainder of the vine looks okay for now, any ideas? Kathy

Answer.
    This could be a mosaic virus (very dry conditions) or powdery mildew (Humid conditions) both can be sprayed against with a systemic spray, ask at your local garden outlet. This could also be pumpkin fly, which lays its eggs in the stem at ground level and the maggots eat the centre of the stem.

Question.
    Dear Sir / Madam
We have cut back hard our English Yew (Taxus Baccata), and was wondering if there is anything we could feed it with to help with re-growth.

Answer.
    Use a good general-purpose fertiliser say 15-20-20. Farmyard manure if available is very useful spread around the stems. Give a generous amount of garden lime in the winter to make the soil more alkaline.

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.

July    -------     Mid Summer gardening guide.     -------