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Acoustic Fence (blocking out road noise)
I’ve been looking at ways to mitigate sound coming into the garden. I live alongside a busy road leading to and from the town I live in. There is a thin hedge there at the moment running along the side of my property facing the road. The potential plan is to install a fence behind this hedge. I have been researching…
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Tatty Fushchia bushes
I will be moving house soon and not being much of a gardener I have a question. The door is on the side of the house and when we first saw the house the pathway down to the door had a lovely fushchia in full flower and the garden had obviously been cared for. But the person who lived in the house had died and the house has…
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Tree problem!
Can any one advise please with regard to my back neighbours tree having grown so tall it is cutting out a lot of the sun. I will be speaking to my neighbour about this problem, but would like to know generally how I stand legally? Thanks for any/all replies.
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Shed hunting - recommendations please
I am so shedded-out! I am looking for a basic garden shed around 6ft wide by 4ft deep, preferably with a window. As cheap and basic as possible. I've googled and there are so many different companies and just when I think I've found a suitable one I find it's out of stock. And don't mention reviews There's something wrong…
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Advice please
This may seem trivial but I have lived in my semi-detached dormer bungalow all my life, it was my mum and dad's house till dad died 5 years ago now it's just me and my little dog. 4 years ago the house next door changed hands and it has been one thing after another firstly they placed a trampoline right next to my garden…
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First time garden-owner - help needed!
Hi all, So we bought our first house in June (yay!) And the front garden looked lovely and the seller had obviously taken some time to make it look nice. I tried to keep on top of the weeding initially but it was all coming back through again so quickly that I kind of gave up! I've since learned that the seller got cheap…
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Wot, no wallflowers?
I usually get bare rooted wallflowers round about now, a bunch of 10 for a quid, several bunches to dot round the garden and put in pots in the backyard for cheap spring colour and scent. My local independent nursery says their usual growers haven’t grown them this year and they’re looking for alternative suppliers.…
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Neighbours hedge
Hiya! Not sure if this is correct place to post but need some advice please. My neighbours hedge/shrubs always come to my part of the garden, which is fine, I have no issue with. I usually cut it back to the boundary and then dispose. I’ve been lighting a fire, which is the way I dispose of it, but neighbours, including…
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Bird table and bird feeder (anti predator)
Hi.Can someone recommend me a bird table that's difficult for wildlife killing pests like cats to get on? Unfortunately the bird table we have is only 1 metre off ground level which isn't tall enough as there is a particularly athletic vicious domestic cat (absolutely horrible things) in the area, so we want to try and…
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Best place to order seeds by post
Hello. I live in France but generally buy vegetable seeds when visiting the UK ( better choice, cheaper, much higher germination rates). However, because of COVID, I probably won’t visit so would like to order seeds by post. Can anyone recommend a reliable company who does this without silly P&P charges. I would like well-…
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Deciduous roses - or not?
Bit of a panic here. I bought a climbing rose because the scent was amazing, the colour right and they've been hard to find in these times.It's also a newly developed one 1999, and I've only bought old roses pre 1940's before. I've just seen that it's classed deciduous, then that 'roses are deciduous' and this isn't…
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Container pear tree recommendations..?
On my travels recently I've seen small pear trees growing successfully in patio containers and giving quite an impressive crop. Has anyone here been so lucky and maybe able to recommend a variety? Dwarfing rootstock grown, I assume.
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Help please in selecting a new Espalier apple tree.
I have an existing Spartan espalier apple tree, although a prolific fruit bearer it's gradually succumbed to canker and I intend to take it out very soon. I'm looking for a dessert type tree, self pollinating and disease resistant. I intend to plant it in the same spot as where the Spartan tree is now, hopefully with fresh…
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Boris - friend of the slug
Clearly short of more urgent things to worry about, the government has announced the banning of metaldehyde slug pellets. Sales will be prohibited after March 2021 and existing stocks will have to be used within one year. The full story is in Farner's…
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Leylandii too big - advice on what to do
Our house has big Leylandii hedges on two sides (planted years ago by previous owners). The hedges are in good condition and I really like the privacy they give us. I have been cutting the hedges for the last few years, but they are now getting out of hand, so wondered what options I have to make maintenance easier but…
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Sad cypress tree
Hello folks, I took a punt and ordered a pair of cypress trees online. One arrived healthy; full; and well. The other arrived ‘threadbare’; and with broken branches and crown. I would like to care for the second tree back to full health and a match to its partner. How do I do that? As always, simple instructions for the…
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Protecting artificial grass from bird seed and mess
We’ve a small area of lawn that we’d like to lay as artificial grass (I know some people hate it), but we’d like to keep up our bird feeding station too. Our old lawn (it’s more a mud patch with a few blades of grass on it) has a few large lumps of hardened, dried sunflower seed mess where there smaller birds seem to drop…
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Weeds in flowerbed
What is the best way to prepare the soil to be a flowerbed? I am in the process, turned the soil over and over, and over. In some bits I have sprayed weed killer, but I want to save some plants that are still in there. It hasn't been used as a flowerbed for quite some time, so there is grass and weeds. How do councils do…
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Starting a push bike and trailer gardening business?
Hi I am wondering if people think this can be somewhat successful. I am planning to start a gardening business, and to get my tools around I have built a 4ft x 2.8ft trailer (almost finished). Its big enough to carry main tools at once such as lawn mower, blower, hedgtrimmer, strimmer, petrol can, chainsaw etc. Do you…
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raised veg beds
Planning on building new raised beds late autumn and after opinions of the best materials to use. I am considering scaffold board, treated decking or breeze blocks. My original beds only lasted a couple of years they were a kit and despite being pressure treated are not doing very well! Bed size would be about meter square…
