Spring 2011 Cornish Gardener 5


Q&A – Ask Mary Richards Q A


We have a large, beautiful camellia growing next to the house but it is now obscuring our


dining room window and keeping out light. Will it harm to prune it?


No, people think camellias are delicate exotics but


they’re not. Pruning is done to shape the plant, to cut out dead or diseased wood or, in your case, to curtail unwanted growth. Ideally prune right after the flowers have died back, although pruning at other times won’t harm the tree but it may remove dormant buds for the next season. Use very sharp pruning equipment, make clean cuts close to a leafing branch so as not to leave nubs, and if the branches are quite thick paint over the cuts with a pruning sealant which you can buy at a garden centre. Keep the camellia in check in future, pruning can actually improve its health and vigour.


Q 1


My runner bean plants produced a huge amount of foliage last year but very few beans. How can I ensure this doesn’t happen again?


2 A


Most likely it was lack of pollination because of the poor weather we had last


summer. There was a notable lack of bees around, which are the main pollinators. Overfeeding with nitrates will also produce too much foliage. To ensure you get the best pollination you need to attract bees. Planting sweet smelling flowers such as sweet peas in the vicinity often helps.


A


pots which I’m clipping into a pyramid shape. Last year many of the leaves started to turn brown and fall off. The plants are not constricted, and I feed regularly. What could be the problem?


Q


Bay laurel, or sweet bay as it is known, originates in much hotter countries than ours and is


therefore susceptible to very low temperatures. If yours are young the very cold winter we have had for the past


two years may have ‘caught’ the new leaves. You can repair the damage by


3


I have small bay trees in terracotta


birds seem attracted to early spring flowers, particularly yellow crocus. They must mistake them for some kind of food. They often do it to primulas and primroses too. Not much to do to prevent this, as netting would look ugly. Blue, white or purple crocus doesn’t seem to be so affected so perhaps you should restrict yourself to these.


A 4


problems with birds damaging crocus blooms? Every year my display is attacked with birds pecking off the flowers although they don’t seem to eat them.


Q


It’s an odd happening in the garden that


Has anyone else experienced


cutting the plant back and allowing new shoots to form. Bay needs a sunny or partially sunny warm spot, it will hate frost pockets and in colder areas either bring indoors during the winter or swathe with horticultural fleece round the plant and sacking round the pot until the plants are more mature.


Summer bulbs make me feel fine W


hile a lot of gardeners rush round in autumn and early winter to make sure they are going to have an early


spring bulb display, summer bulbs tend to get forgotten. This is a pity, because like all bulbs, they will provide fantastic flowers, great colour, and will give you double the space in your garden. Why the latter? Because you can plant summer bulbs under earlier flowering shrubs and trees. They will happily pop up when others are fading. Or pop them in when you’re clearing a space for summer bedding. This month is the time to start planting. The choice of summer bulbs is huge, but here are some suggestions:


1. Cannas: Big bold flowers in colours ranging through red to pink, orange, yellow and white, with foliage from pale to dark green or many other colours. Half-hardy – start them off in pots in compost in early spring, planted about an inch deep. Plant out in June in borders. 2. Dahlias: A huge group of flowers with many colours, forms and sizes. Plant dormant tubers 3in into the ground in late April or early May where they are to flower. Slugs are the main enemy, so protection is needed. Tubers of dahlias are lifted in autumn and stored in a cool dry place. 3. Gladioli: They really are stars and great for cutting. Easy to grow, cheap to buy, in sizes


ranging from more than 4ft to less than 2ft, some with giant blooms. Colours white, red, yellow, orange, pink, purple, and even a yellowish green one called Greenbird. Plant until May in full sun in succession at least 5in deep. Gladioli will bloom through August and September. Lift in late autumn and store. 4. Roscoea: Quite rare, it is an ideal rockery plant, growing to no more than 1ft with a straight sturdy stalk. Colours are yellow, red and yellow, pink and light and dark purple. Plant the tuberous root in April, 4in deep in rich, moist soil, in sun or partial soil. Mulch in winter. The most striking one is R scillifolia, a deep dark purple which looks almost black.


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