Plants 4
Any Questions?

Q.  I need some information on how to plant a hawthorn hedge. We have loads of hawthorn trees and I was wondering can I cut snips of them and when is the right time to do it.

A.  Mid to late summer with semi-ripe cuttings in a 50:50 sand/peat or soil mix in the shade. An open coldframe would be a good place to strike them.

Q.  My Passionflower is bearing fruit this year. can I eat them?

A.  Can you eat them? Yes. Would you want to eat them? Probably not, it's unlikely they'll be properly developed and ripened in this country, it's also more likely they'll be an ornamental variety grown for flowers than a variety grown for fruit - worth a nibble though.

A.  They should have been pruned immediately after flowering as they flower on the recent year's growth. I guess if that's not been happening it'll explain why they're so big.

Could you prune them now? I'm not sure I've never left it so late! Large old brooms don't grow again from old wood and are usually replaced rather than successfully renovated. If you do nothing now, they'll almost certainly flower again next year, but be even bigger, but then you can prune after flowering but don't cut into old wood. If you prune now, they'll probably flower again next year, though may resent the disturbance and sulk for a year. In any case brooms are fairly short lived and yours sound like they might be getting ready for replacement.

I suppose it'll be a balance between how much space they take up and how much you like them when they're in flower.

Gardening books - If you only buy one the RHS encyclopedia of gardening is the one to go for, not cheap but great value. I'd also recommend the RHS book of Pruning and Training, but it's out of print. If you've a mature garden it's one of the most useful books you could have.

A.  To be sure of keeping it alive it needs to be in a greenhouse or conservatory, they're not really outdoor plants in the UK.

If you've no choice but to put it out, then place it in the warmest and sheltered part of the garden possible, facing South, South West ideally and not in a frost hollow. When the frosts start it should be wrapped in bubble wrap or similar, tie the leaves together and cover the pot, stem and leaves. You can use straw held in place with string and provide an outer layer of an old reed mat or similar as bubble wrap isn't very pretty.

They are hardier the larger they are, though 4 feet is still a small one by palm standards. Realistically I don't expect it to survive well, if it does, then see it as a bonus.

Q.  Our camellia as something like soot on the leaves please could you tell me what I should do is there a cure for this and what could the soot like stuff be?.

A.  The soot is probably something called "sooty mould" it's a fairly harmless fungus that usually grows on honeydew secreted by aphids, on the leaves below where they drip it. The fungus is unsightly and stops light and air getting to the leaves but doesn't attack the plant in any other way.

It's rather unusual at this time of year (April) as there aren't many aphids around, if your plants are under cover though there's likely to be more of them.

There is no direct cure, but spraying the aphids will usually remove the cause of the problem and then it's a case of spraying the plant leaves with water to remove the honeydew and the remaining mould.

WARNING - if your Camellias are under cover, don't spray the leaves directly with water from the tap, the chances are it will be pretty cold and may well cause them to drop their flower buds. If possible, don't spray them at all until after they've flowered, if you must, use water from a can with a fine rose that has been left by the plants for 12 hours or more to reach the same temperature before use.