Lynne Poulson's forum posts
Total number of forum posts: 4
Pinching out - or not?
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Can anyone help me? I never know which young plants need pinching out to increase bushiness, and have sometimes had disasters by doing it (eg pinching out one of my daughter's Cosmos to show her how to do it, only to find that it grew to have just one flower on, whilst all the others bushed out beautifully!) I want to sell these plants for a greyhound rescue charity, so need to get them as chunky as possible, as quickly as possible. Can you tell me if sweet williams, pansies or wallflowers are best left alone, or pinched out, and if so what stage should it be done by? Good advice could help Greyhound Gap to get a hound into a home.
Thanks in advance, and sorry for the non-plant images,
Lynne
- Posted: Mon. 16th August 2010 15:19
Re: Capsid Bug on my Hydrangea Annabelle
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Our garden, which we've had for 2 years, has areally bad capsid problem. Wetry to be as organic as poss, even with the regiments of slugs that march down the garden every night, but the capsids - which I've never experienced before are a nightmare! They especially like Caryopteris, and this has had virtually no flowers either year. They have decimated my husbands runner beans - there is one flower on a wigwam of 6 plants, and many other plants get ruined or some damage. We have found The spray already mentioned is the only thing, but we hate using pesticides for fear of harming beneficial insects.
- Posted: Mon. 16th August 2010 15:04
Re: Re: Callistemon (Bottle Brush) - Sad Demise
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No, we don't think it's worth it, as the winters are getting more erratic now, and it would take several years to grow to a decent size, if we managed to nurture it. I had tried in a more sheltered garden some years ago, and it didn't survive then. We've also lost coreopsis and a delphinium nudicaule - BAD winter! I think we'll get something more suited to our area & hope we can retire to the south in the future! Thanks for your concern,
Lynne
- Posted: Tue. 1st June 2010 21:44
Callistemon (Bottle Brush) - Sad Demise
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I was amazed & thrilled when we moved 2 years ago, and the shrub I couldn't identify flowered. It was an Australian Bottle Brush, about 8ft tall and covered in flowers. Who would believe it would grow in north Derbyshire. It was about 15 years old. We had a cold, snowy winter the first year, and it was fine, but the hard winter this year turned the whole plant brown. We are really upset, but want to warn anyone to protect Callistemons in the winter in northern areas, as we have lost a fab and unusual shrub which was the only one around here, & guess what, we never got a photo of it in flower!.
- Posted: Tue. 1st June 2010 19:21
- Last reply: No timestamp set
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