Homeowner Forum / Lawn and Garden / August 2008

I have quite a growth of a very low lying weed all around my onions.
It has very shallow roots - grows about half an inch high.  Has spikey
(but not sharp) leaves  - about 1mm wide.
Small flowers which have four petals - yellowy/whitish/green - about

Something is eating away at my leeks. Small larvae type grub or worms
2 - 5 mm in size are found well down between the base of the leaves.
They leave behind a trail of mushy green debris. I think that they are
probably onion maggots. Is this possible, and is there anyway of

There's more to this than meets the eye....
In the beginning God covered the earth with broccoli, cauliflower and
spinach, with green, yellow and red vegetables of all kinds so Man and
Woman would live long and healthy lives.

Kate's question on garden and house evaluation reminded me of a
programme I caught 5 minutes of, on preparing a garden for the Yellow
Book Scheme.
I may have got it completely wrong, but what it seemed to be saying was

I have a 20ft privet hedge on the east side of a garden wall.  Thre
quarters of it has virtually stopped growing and the other quarter i
growing like mad.  The leaves on the dodgy section look very grey
altho the wood is still green.

Does anyone know what meconopsis seedlings look like? I sowed som
seeds ages ago & nothing happened so i put the pot outside. Went t
throw it yesterday & found something growing which looks like grass bu
not quite as thin. Any ideas?

Heads up that the R4 Saturday PM show will be featuring the recent
aminopyralid contamination scares and include interviews with NSALG and
the Soil Association, as well as members of the public who's crops have
been affected by this.

I have a good sized greenhouse in the garden (10 ft square) it seems to be
of good quality alluminium construction and stands on a concrete pad. It
even has automatic opening roof vents.
http://share.ovi.com/media/Muddymike.Garden/Muddymike.10544

Its time for me to ask this question again, with prices having fallen
a bit.
Anyone got a robot mower?
I'm thinking of getting one, but am not sure of the consequences of

Perhaps slightly off-topic, but my husband and I remember standing in fields
as children and hearing grasshoppers all around.  We have a few here but we
never seem to hear that sound now.
Where have they all gone?

This cactus flowered this week. Admittedly in a slightly barmy way, because
there was a shelf above it, so it went for the glass. But since it puts out
only one flower for one day, and it's a stunning flower, I thought I'd share
it with you.

I have to dig up a huge liriope which is at the base of a 5 year old
weeping bald cypress.  I don't want to kill the cypress.  Is there a
way to do this?  Thanks.

I want to build a wooden compost container. Any idea what, if anything,
I should treat the wood with before I start filling it up. Don't wanna
put any nasty chemicals in there.
Brian.

I'm a great admirer of Carol's enthusiasm and her knowledge and
experience, but am getting a BIT annoyed at the CONSTANT and
unnecessary inflections in HER voice. I'm sure it must be something to
do with the producers, hoping she'll appeal to a wider and younger

My big apple tree right at the back of the garden is producing som
really nice apples. The problem is I don't know what kind they are
I've read there are various kinds of apples including cooking varietie
so I'm not sure if these can be eaten, juiced or cooked. They are gree