Begoniafan's Inbox

I don't think you need to use ericaceous compo for any of these. I grow Acers for sale and I just use good general purpose compo. Conifers and ivy will grow in just about anything. Begonias I think like neutral soil and bare in mind the corm will need lifting and storing come autumn, so make sure it is not too close to the roots of the trees. Personally I would save the expense and just use 'ordinary' general purpose compo.

Photos are very helpful... :-)

The conifer and acer, Yes, Probably the ivy too, But i wouldn,t plant the begonia unless, it was in a seperate pot sunk into the container..

Hi Begoniafan - be aware that there are quite a few different plants that we call figs. I'm assuming you have the sort that actally produces figs!! They have large leaves which from memory I think have 3 lobes and I think the fruit appears in the leaf axils. The only things I know about growing figs is that they need full sun and they fruit best when their roots are constricted - I think I've seen the bases of the plants 'hemmed in' with stone or slate to constrict the roots near the surface. Hope this helps!

I have a young fig tree. Is this what you have? If you look at my photos you will see a pic taken this week. It is covered with small figs, and the leaves get pretty big. It does not have flowers that are visible.

Is it used compost, or just compost that was left in the bag from last year? If the former, then go with Wideboys plan, if the latter then it should be fine for whatever you want to do with it.

I would not use old compost in baskets. If it is clean just work it in the top soil of your garden or put it into your compost heap if you have one.

I think you had to do something - or else the compost could have got too wet and then the roots of your plants would rot! Maybe a few holes pricked into the sides?

Who cares what it's called! I just love that rich-red-effect in your photo that is sooo difficult to achieve.

You could plant evergreen Clematis such as C.Cirrhosa varieties there - they flower from late autumn through the winter, depending whish ones you choose. I think that C.armandii might be a bit too vigorous once it got going - it grows up to about 20'! The cirrhosas grow up to 10', so theyd cover the fence. Honeysuckles will also grow in shade, and Euonymus 'fortunei Silver Queen' surprisingly, will also climb if allowed to! Hope this helps.

Well not strictly it was a white powdery fibre that when seen through light in large quantities had a blue haze.Been banned for many years and predominantly used in insulating materials for walls.Sorry I am digressing here but your garage roof will not be made of this.Asbestos was a high risk for those working with it in powdered form .

You're welcome :-)

Shouldnt do but wouldnt want to drink it. nowadays all asbestos frowned on but the real harmful stuff was blue asbestos as it powdered easily and therefore easily inhaled.Your roof should have stabilised years ago.

We've got a new roundabout at the end of our road - I've been thinking about lobbing a handful of poppy seeds out the car window!

1. Never heard that! I have daffs & tulips growing close together and they seem to like one another just fine!

2. Vines (i.e. climbing plants, I presume) on a good strong building do no harm whatsoever. However, the shear weight of climbing plants can occasionally pull rendering off a wall. It is not the plant at fault here, but the quality of the wall that causes dampness, etc. It is important not to let large climbing plants reach guttering as they can damage this - particular Parthenocissus tricuspidata, which can cover a hugh area of a building and climb several stories high!

3. Never heard this. Some carnivorous plants emit a scent like rotting meat to attract flys, but then they eat them, so solve the problem!

The second part of your suggestion, the mind boggles!!!!

OK, what apple core lady? Great idea. Johnny Appleseed got away with it, so it's an American tradition!

As & when you change your planting in the containers I would think. When I am re-doing a planter I always use fresh compost because the previous plants would of used up the nutritional value of the compost. Never waist the used compost though, I always put it on my borders. I guess you could always add plant fertiliser to the exisiting compost to use it again, but I find there is often rooty bits left in & just prefer to give new plants a fresh start & the borders benefit as well.

Ask Marksbegonias - I am sure he must have done it!

What a great idea for brightening up the neighbourhood - just don't get caught - remember the lady with the apple core? Crazy, I know.... :-(

this is prob gonni be no help to you at all , but ...... I sliced off a bit of growth for one of my non stop Begonias that has started to grow and ive potted it into a 3inch pot just to see what happens , now i may done the worst thing poss to this poor plant and it may go and die on me ! but I thought id give it a go and see what happens !

Hi Begoniafan, Camelias don't need pruning but if you do prune, it should be done after it flowers. they flower on the previous years growth so only take this years growth off. The Camelias should be repotted after flowering, if you repot before it can cause bud drop.
camelias develop there flowering buds during late summer, early autumn, it is important you do not let it dry out in this period as that can leed to no or less flowers in the spring.They shoud be fed with an ericaceous feed every month from March to July, they should be grown in ericaceous compost, and last but not least do not irrigate with tap water it tends to have to much calcium in it.

Hope this helps good luck. Philip.

You can prune your Camellia after flowering (sorry it only had one flower!) to maintain its shape. Did you feed it? it is recommended that they are fed with a balanced feed in the spring.

What a pain for you! We suffer from Winter Heliotrope here, it sounds lovely, doesn't it, but the roots are so deep that I can't dig them out! I cope by using a long-bladed trowel and pushing it down as far as I can to remove as much of the plant as I can whenever it pops up in my rose bed. A neighbour has laid a membrane but - yes, they came through!

My money is on it being the dock weed (rumex).
We are not the only ones fighting them, from this web-page:

http://www.suffolk.gov.uk/TransportAndStreets/RoadMaintenance/WeedControl.htm

Suffolk Council is battling with it too, along with every other County Council I suspect.

They list it as a 'noxious' weed which can damage road and pavement surfaces and obstruct drains, so I guess it wouldn't flinch at membrane & chipped bark !

I would suggest using systemic gel on the leaves as soon as they peak tthrough. Fingers crossed we'll both beat them into submission :-)

Are they docks (rumex) ?
I put them in the same category of garden thugs as brambles, bindweed, ground ivy etc. I have a running battle with them in my veg garden; I have read somewhere that the seed can lie dormant for 50 years!

I fear a wooden container filled directly with compost and sitting on bare soil would rot within a couple of years. If I were you, I'd buy a cheap plastic pot (Poundstretcher good for these!) and put that inside and place the whole lot on a hard surface.

Ditto?!

I don't agree, I have planted a Clematis in a bottomless container deliberately because it was impossible to dig deeper than about 9 inches into my soil, I think there is a buried road!!!! The Clematis which needs to be planted deeply is very happy to make its on way around now, look at my pictures you will see the result.

I agree with Bonkers put another container inside of your bottomless one it will save you no end of headaches later on if you decide to move it around etc.Hel.xxx.