Homeowner Forum / Lawn and Garden / September 2008

Hi everyone. I'm fairly new to orchid growing, and bought my first
dendrobium about 6 weeks ago. It had three blooms at the time, which
have now wilted and one has fallen off. Once the other two have fallen
off, should I cut the spike back at all, or just leave it?

Toby Buckland presents his first programme of Gardeners' World tonight.

I have 1 year old grass seeds in a sealed bag.   are they still good?
tx

Whew, had a busy weekend, cleared out most of the common orange Monrovia,
now I can see the borders again, got 4 bin bags full, all gone to Freecycle,
Re modelled the side borders, and enlarged them, now they are edged with
upright odd pieces of nice Yorkshire stone, and odd bits ...

Dear UK gardeners,
Can you please give advice on where to advertise to attract
garden-friendly people to move to a Edinburgh tenement block?
We would like to try to encourage people who like to garden to let or

Good grief, it looks bad. Shout out to any of our peeps in the path of Ike.
Florida has had its share, but in our particular area it is unlikely - read,
improbable - that we could ever see anything like Galveston is about to
experience.

My local supplier, Carpenter Farm Supply still has no supply. Anyone
have a
local source?
I know, it's ugly, but I never water and have a very green lawn. ;-)

Good evening.
I am going to plant a hedge in the next week or two.  I am undecided as to
what sort.  Please could you suggest a hedge that is reasonably quick to
establish and isn't Leylandii. Beech is my default choice at the moment but

Our house is on a corner. At the side of the garden is a privit hedge,
and at the end is a stone wall.  The corner where the two meet is very
vulnerable to burglars, and there've recently been 3 in the street.
So... we need either barbed wire (joking) or a nice thorny bush to

Some of our potatoes have been eaten, not by slugs, we know what that looks
like thank you.
The marks are shallow scoops out of the flesh on most damaged ones although
some have been eaten almost away. Are there any small (burrowing) rodents

I have been told that I must pick up all clippings from a privet hedge
if they fall in a flower border, on the grounds that the cutting inhibit
growth of other plants.  I suspect this is an old wife's tale.  Is there
any substance to it?

Earlier this year we added two more water butts to our systems in the
gardens making eight.
I don't think we have ever reached half full, or should that be half empty?
Would it help if we scrapped the lot, concreted the garden over and painted

When I bought this plant, it had beaucoup lovely blooms.   After they
fell off, I expected, according to the plant tag and the Western
Garden Book, that I would get lots more.  But it's been at least six
months, and nothing has budged.  Not even any new growth, despite TLC.

I have a friend in Bellevue who has just bought a great old craftsman hous
and is scheduled to move in a couple of weeks and needs several things don
before she moves. Specifically she needs a plumber who specializes i
replacing sewer lines and also an electrician. Does anyone here ...

Ok, this is going to sound totally off the wall, but the question is
genuine.
I have a few bottles of really, really bad wine in the house, gifts
from the uninformed, and nasty prizes from pub quizzes.