Homeowner Forum / Lawn and Garden / October 2008

hopefully you know what we in midwest call cattails.
usually in wet grounds, river banks etc.
They grow tall, leafy with brown 'seed?' pods and feathery tips.
There is a large growth near me, in a drainage culvert.

I'm looking for a general guide as to time of year and type of fertilizer,
for feeding all outdoor permanent shrubs, large and small trees, some
ornamental,  plants and the lawns.   I have some Dogwoods, ornamental fruit
trees, shade trees, azaleas, English Ivy, Pachysandra,  ...

I know this is uk gardening but have a holiday home in Turkey, last year I
planted 2 small grape vines, I am back out in a couple of weeks and
apparently are about 3 feet high now, I basicall just have them tied to an
upright stake at the moment..

a fellow allotmenter gave me some spare tomatoes, they were OK but not as
good as good canned tomatoes. I have had good fresh tomatoes, reliably  in
Spain and unreliably here. I assume the problem is lack of sun, do they
need to be in a greenhouse in southern UK?

For detailed information on this newsgroup you are recommended to
read the charter for uk.rec.gardening at:
       http://www.usenet.org.uk/uk.rec.gardening.html
There are a number of FAQ files (answers to Frequently Asked

I know there is a rose variety called Pat Austin. I grow it.
 Is there a rose named after David Austin?
Sam Bass

Does anyone here grow Bulbine frutescens?  I know it's winter hardy in
milder areas, but how about the London suburbs, or further north?  I don't
have a proper greenhouse, but share an upright mini-greenhouse with my cat,
Cheetah.  I'm sure she'd let me put a couple of plants in ...

I live in Northern CA and we have a Gravenstein Apple tree in our back yard.
We planted it about 10 years ago and so far we haven't had any apples hardly
that didn't have worms.  I believe we have a moth problem.
Does anyone know how we can get rid of this problem?

It used to be that the Crystal Company of Saint Louis was THE place to
buy compressed bales of coconut husk chips. They used to advertise in
Orchids Magazine.
Are they still around? Do they have a web site?

I am writing a paper about growing ivy over the roof of an earth-
architecture dome on my college campus.
Does anyone know what ivy would be best to do this with. The school is
in southern california, near los angeles. I do not know too much about

I have been struggling for a couple of years to get a small lemon tree
to flower then fruit. Finally got the soil in order and this year the
tree has generated a very large number of flowers, far too many for
them all to fruit.

Hi All, I have some potatoes in the special potato buckets and have gone out
this morning to find some of the helms broken off.  Will the potatoes on
this plant still grow or will the produce be affected.  There are two sets
of leaves at the  base of the plants left on.

For us in UK
Framed, as from a hill top high,
on display some scenic sight,
Fields and forests waving in

Hi there, I would be grateful for some advice.
I planted a grafted willow salix flamengo about two months ago.  M
question is how do I maintain it during the winter months.
Do I need to trim it back now or wait until the spring?  

I have a wall in my garden which is about 6ft tall by 8ft wide, ca
someone please suggest an evergreen climber that will grow quit
quickly and cover the wall, I would also like it to flower in th
Spring / Summer and have some degree of red coloured foliage in th