I planted spring bulbs (snowdrops and bluebell H. nonscripta) under a sycamore tree and nothing has come up. I cleared and raked the area well before planting, cut away the lowest branches, so there's plenty of light and rain getting to the soil, but still not flowers. Just wondering if the sycamore itself might be inhibiting growth. I know it happens with beech.
There's a lovely specimen in a neglected garden nearby and I would like to grow from it in my own garden. What's the best way to get results?
How do I turn a hummocky field into a garden without using weedkillers/ poisons? The area is rich in wildlife so this project has to be as kind as possible to the environment as is possible so as not to impact on the hares, badgers, etc. passing through. It's a 1 acre site, never been gardened before, and I want to make a start now on conversion to an eventual herb-veg-fruit garden. Not afraid of hard work.
I'm wondering if my yellow barberry is dead. It has dropped its leaves and I see no sign of its yellow flowers this year. Could our -16c winter temps have killed it? My father wants to remove/ dump it, but should we give it another chance? Also, our clematis hasn't flowered either. Will it benefit from a cutting back to the roots or shall we just get rid of it?
My apple trees probably didn't get the memo last year that it was the best fruiting year in a long time. We had a very poor harvest. What is the best thing to feed fruiting trees? & when? Having said that, our entire garden seems to be having a bad day compared to our neighbours. Can soil get so depleted as to be useless?
My Christmas cactus completely failed to flower this winter. It budded, but the buds all fell off before opening. I have it in a north-facing window. Any ideas?