成人快手

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

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Q 鈥� My Pieris 鈥楩orest Flame鈥� is over twenty-five years old.听 It鈥檚 now very tall with bare branches lower down.听 If I prune it back will it branch out and flower again?

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Bunny 鈥� I鈥檝e never cut one back

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Christine 鈥� I have and it popped its clogs!

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Bunny 鈥� Reduce by half and see how it responds

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

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Q 鈥� What height does an Amaryllis normally get to? I鈥檝e 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 鈥� I think what you鈥檙e describing is actually a Hippeastrum.听 There鈥檚 only one species of Amaryllis and that鈥檚 the 鈥楤ella Donna鈥�.听 There鈥檚 a lot of height variety in the Hippeastrums.

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

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Christine 鈥� Yes basically.听 4-6 inches (10-15cm) deep for the planting.听 Incorporate grit into heavier soil.听 You鈥檒l need to wait 3-4 years for flowers.

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Matthew 鈥� Grow Gladiolus byzantinus and one that used to be a Gladiolus but is now called Acindanthera murielae 鈥� they鈥檙e my two 鈥榤ust haves鈥�.

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Q 鈥� Which vegetables shall I put in my wooden trug?听 It鈥檚 two-and-a-half feet deep. I had deformed carrots last year.

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Christine 鈥� Don鈥檛 use too much fertiliser or have the soil too compacted.听 Treat a trug that size as a raised bed and grow what you like.

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Bunny 鈥� Runner beans.听听 Mergoles was one I grew last year.听 Cut-and-come lettuces around the edge. Chinese celery. Parsnips: 鈥楥ountess鈥�, 鈥楪ladiator, F-1 hybrids.

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Christine 鈥� Radishes, pak choi.

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Matthew 鈥� Potatoes.

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Q 鈥� What can I do about my Hydrangeas?听 I don鈥檛 want to prune them because last time I did I didn鈥檛 get any flowers for the next three years.

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Bunny 鈥� Some hydrangeas you can cut right back 鈥� Hydrangea arborescens 鈥楢nnabelle鈥� for example.听 鈥楳adame Moliere鈥� too.听 Anything else I鈥檇 go in now and take a third out.听 And do the same again next year.

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Matthew 鈥� I鈥檝e got Hydrangea 鈥榋orro鈥� in my garden 鈥� I will prune it in about four weeks鈥� time.听 Prune when the buds start to break beneath the deadheads.