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Q – I have several pots of snowdrops and this is their third year in pots. Do I need to release them?

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Christine – You can grow snowdrops in pots but every three years take them out, refresh the soil and repot them.Ìý Use loam based soil or John Innes No 2 with grit.Ìý

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Q – My Pieris ‘Forest Flame’ is over twenty-five years old.Ìý It’s now very tall with bare branches lower down.Ìý If I prune it back will it branch out and flower again?

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Bunny – I’ve never cut one back

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Christine – I have and it popped its clogs!

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Bunny – Reduce by half and see how it responds

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Matthew – Just do one or two stems.Ìý Then give it a good liquid feed of sequestered iron to encourage growth.Ìý Mulch with composted bark or peat-free ericaceous compost.

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Q – What height does an Amaryllis normally get to? I’ve had them at seven inches (18cm), eighteen inches (45cm), and the one I have now is 26 inches (66cm) tall.

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Christine – I think what you’re describing is actually a Hippeastrum.Ìý There’s only one species of Amaryllis and that’s the ‘Bella Donna’.Ìý There’s a lot of height variety in the Hippeastrums.

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Q – I want to grow Gladioli.Ìý How deep do they need planting, do they need feeding and do they need lifting in the autumn?

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Christine – Yes basically.Ìý 4-6 inches (10-15cm) deep for the planting.Ìý Incorporate grit into heavier soil.Ìý You’ll need to wait 3-4 years for flowers.

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Matthew – Grow Gladiolus byzantinus and one that used to be a Gladiolus but is now called Acindanthera murielae – they’re my two ‘must haves’.

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Q – Which vegetables shall I put in my wooden trug?Ìý It’s two-and-a-half feet deep. I had deformed carrots last year.

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Christine – Don’t use too much fertiliser or have the soil too compacted.Ìý Treat a trug that size as a raised bed and grow what you like.

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Bunny – Runner beans.ÌýÌý Mergoles was one I grew last year.Ìý Cut-and-come lettuces around the edge. Chinese celery. Parsnips: ‘Countess’, ‘Gladiator, F-1 hybrids.

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Christine – Radishes, pak choi.

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Matthew – Potatoes.

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Q – What can I do about my Hydrangeas?Ìý I don’t want to prune them because last time I did I didn’t get any flowers for the next three years.

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Bunny – Some hydrangeas you can cut right back – Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’ for example.Ìý ‘Madame Moliere’ too.Ìý Anything else I’d go in now and take a third out.Ìý And do the same again next year.

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Matthew – I’ve got Hydrangea ‘Zorro’ in my garden – I will prune it in about four weeks’ time.Ìý Prune when the buds start to break beneath the deadheads.