Our experts tackle your gardening queries, including an overgrown acer, hordes of earwigs and a Virginia creeper that just won’t creep
Bob Flowerdew
Bob is an organic gardener and has designed his garden to produce lots of veg, fruit and cut fowers.
Kirsty Wilson Kirsty gardens at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and is a presenter on Beechgrove Garden.
Matt Biggs
Matt trained at Kew and has been gardening professionally for more than 30 years.
Q Our first garden is south-facing. What shall we grow?
Sharon Slatter, by email
AKIRSTY SAYS It looks like a wonderful blank canvas! When designing your garden it is best to test the soil and light levels in your garden first. It’s also a good idea to visit other gardens in your area to see what is growing well, and seek inspiration from magazines and gardens open to the public.
Think about things like washing lines, bins and areas to sit at different times of day. Also consider who will be using the space and how much time you want to spend maintaining it. You may also need to improve the soil with organic matter.
Bigger borders will have more impact and the plants will be happier. Try to include a wide diversity of plants including trees, shrubs, herbaceous perennials and bulbs as this will benefit local wildlife and provide interest all year.
Adding a pond or water feature will encourage wildlife and will also make the space calm and tranquil.
A MATT SAYS Before you start buying plants, take a pH test of the soil, and assess sun and shade. The following choice plants are reliable options.
Fatsia polycarpa Green
Fingers is an evergreen shrub whose large, hand-like leaves
live up to its name, while
Anemone nemorosa ‘Green Fingers’ is a spring-flowering herbaceous perennial for moist, but free-draining soil. This unusual wood anemone’s white flowers have a central cluster of green. Farfugium japonicum ‘Aureomaculatum’, which has glossy leaves with rather ghostly, yellow spots and clusters of bright-yellow, daisy flowers in late summer, favours moist conditions.
Meanwhile Corylus avellana ‘Red Majestic’ is a small, semi-weeping tree. It has ‘corkscrew’ stems to provide interest in winter and purplish catkins in spring. The purple leaves turn to green as they mature.
Q No germination but lots of pests in my hard soil. Help!
John Smith, Essex
A BOB SAYS You seem a bit overwhelmed, but perhaps you are confusing minor irritations with more serious problems
