Walking Talking Gardeners
Walking Talking Gardeners
So why should you listen to anything us idiots have to say on plants and gardens? Well luckily for you, we have some background in this area. The lovely Lorna has a degree in Landscape Management from Greenwich University, London, and has worked in the horticultural industry for over 25 years. Handsome Simon has an honours degree in Commercial Horticulture also from Greenwich University (where we first met as students), studied under Douglas Harris, Head Gardener for the Rothchilds Estate, Buckinghamshire and also spent over 25 years in the horticultural industry. He is also regularly featured as a 'Gardening Expert' for both 'Suttons', and 'Thompson and Morgan'. Together we have a passion for exploring gardens as well as developing our own garden with a particular love for exotic and tropical-effect planting.
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Great Video. This helps me a lot❤
Thanks for your comment. you are very welcome. Simon
Mine is just 80cm already making pups😂
Well done fansaaga, it sounds like you are giving it everything it needs. Simon 🙂
@@walkingtalkinggardeners not really never watered, just full sun and lawn fertiliser. I want the plant to grow taller though
I can grow anything....I just need info, Seeds or Seedlings
Hi Karen and thanks for your question. Can you expand on what you mean as seeds are super easy to germinate to give you the seedlings so I'm not really sure what you are asking. I haven't seen seedlings for sale in the usual retailers, but that doesn't mean you couldn't get them online????? Was that what you were asking?
Hello and good evening dear Simon, just watched your Video about watering Treeferns correctly. Before i give my Treeferns any nutritians, i water them or rather, soak them with Water, preferably Rainwater. Meanwhile i prepare a dose of about 1 handfull Alpaka-Beans, which is the poop of Alpakas, which i put right into the crown of the Treefern, where they can Release their nutrients with every rain or watering in degrees. Secondly, a good dose of a liquid fertilizer once a week, diluted in rainwater, poured right intothe crown of the plant. You can expect best results what frond size concerns. Kind regards Uwe
Sounds like you have this all under control. I am glad you are getting the results you wanted. Simon
Hello sir.. i'm from sri lanka. Can you help me start to saffron farm. Because i need buy bulb. And wether. Somenot notyet sart this one..
Hello Haskina, and thanks for the question. Just one thing, im not sure exactly how you are expecting me to help you? Plus I am having difficulty understanding your last tei sentences. Kind regards Simon
The town of Maydena (central Tasmania ) has lots of beautiful tall tree ferns and gets nowhere near 3 metres of rain per year, they get more like 1•2 metres of rain with around 215 rainy days per year.
Hi David, 215 rainy days a year makes England seem like a desert by comparison! My understanding is that rainfall varies quite considerably over Tasmania. In fact, according to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology the annual average rainfall around Queenstown, Tasmania for the year 1991-2020 was over 3000mm! It might sound like I make things up as I go along but rest assured that everything is indeed fact-checked before filming on all videos. Kind regards, Simon
Hi Simon, I have had Calla Lilly for quite a few years, first years no flowers and then I had some and got better every year. Now I am back to the begining but not only do I have no flowers but they are hardly growing. I have always had them in pots as it is easier to then put them in the garage. Last year I decided to actually take out of pots and store the tubers and needless to say not doing much at all. So, I have now put some in the ground hoping they would do something but no. Do you leave yours in the ground over winter? I thought I might give it a try and mulch over, we use Strulch on our garden. I have 2 neighbours and theirs are kept out in winter. One of them had plant with 3 flowers which is in a raised bed and the other neighbour has it in a pot and actually doesnt really look after it but it got the 1 flower this year. What is going on, any ideas. Are the tubers maybe too old, going on 9 yrs now. Thanks
Hi Susan, and thanks for your comment. I leave mine in due to laziness. I planted 6 bulbs two winters ago and they have all come through, some better than others. The big one in the video has done surprisingly well. I haven't mulched them but I don't see doing this as a problem so long as the mulch os removed in thr spring before the new growth emerges. Assumi g you are in the UK will need them in full sun for best flowering so if they are growing in the shade lift them late autumn and replant in the spring where they will get more sun. Kind regards Simon
@@walkingtalkinggardeners Thanks Simon, yes I am in UK N. Lincolnshire. I have planted them in the wrong place now, how annoying and clearly was not thinking. I have put them amongst my ferns lol, God knows why. Ok, will give them another go and see what happens. Thanks Sue
I have a yucca but its in a pot and has bulbs growing from the soil towards the sky are the new plants ? I topped the yucca and it's now a middle stem with two other plants but the bulbs are confusing me lol
Sorry, I'm at bit confused. Are the bulbs actually bulbs, or are they new growth from the parent plant growing out from the base? Simon
@@walkingtalkinggardeners they are from the base of the plant they are quite big looks like they are trying to sprout a green leaf from the middle of them. I'm not sure do I put soil on top of them or just let them grow
It's in a 50 litre pot plastic they are trying to puncture the side of the pot to get out lol there are so many of them
@fruity_shootyy it's difficult to say without seeing it, but I would probably just leave it for now and maybe remove them and pot on when they are more mature. Simon
@@walkingtalkinggardeners ye I might cut one replant it and see if it grows then I will do the rest thanks for the reply 🙂
A bit off topic but I'm glad your mower is fixed now simon .😀
Thanks Barry, it wasn't cheap but if it runs for a couple more years I'll be happy with it. Simon
@walkingtalkinggardeners my atco electric cylinder mower has lasted me 25 years, did have to spend £150 for new cutting blade and blade sharpening 5 years back .
I’m living in France where it can get to -6/-7c for a few weeks at night in January. I planted quite a few colocasia esculentas in my garden because the nursery said they’d survive winter here and hardy to -10/-12 but now I’m thinking I may need to dig them up and bring them inside. What do you think?
Hi Ryan, sadly I don't have much experience with colocasias but hardy down to -10 is a bit brave. Personally, I would bring them in. But it will all depend on the cultivars you have as some are a lot cold hardier than others. Even so, the main bulb of hardier cultivars can die leaving only the offsets to grow through. If you do leave them then put down a thick mulch as protection. Kind regards, Simon
This did not tell me why my canna did not bloom. Some are almost 5 feet tall, no blooms
Are you in the UK? None of ours have bloomed yet as it has not been warm enough. I expect them to start flowering in the next couple of weeks.
Great video, I had eleven cacti between the spare room windowsill and the box room windowsill a few years ago but my wife said they had to go. I gave them to my mother who has a glass porch and loves cacti. I do have a glasshouse for cherry tomatoes and bell peppers in the summer and I keep nine pots of agapanthus, six pots of alstroemeira, two pots of calla lilies, four pots of delosperma and two pots of shrubby salvias in the glasshouse over winter.
Hi Nicholas, and thanks for getting in touch. It's a shame you had to lose the cacti but happy wife, and all that. Still, it sounds like you have your hands are full with your other plants. Kind regards Simon
High Simon I received my Braeburn apple tree today mm106.its 6 ft tall and has five apples growing on it(three fell off during delivery).I was told an apple tree can’t produce fruit until it’s 4 years old so I’m presuming mine must be 4 or 5 years old?
Nope, you have been poorly informed. You have a grafted tree with the dwarfing rootstock mm106. MM means it was developed by East Malling Institute and John Innes Institute, Merton. The rootstock are usually a couple of years old before grafting, and the braeburn scion is usually allowed to grow 2-3 years before sale. They almost always flower and fruit at this point, but it is best practice to remove the fruit as the young stems aren't usually strong enough to support the weight of the fruits. Fruiting this young also diverts energy away from branch growth, which you need to increase so it can support the weight of the fruit in subsequent years. Seed grown apple will usually fruit in around 10 to 15 years, but the grafting system forces that maturity and therfire fruiting to within 2 or 3 years. I hope this helps. Simon
@@walkingtalkinggardeners thanks.i noticed it has been pruned back so will leave it to grow naturally.hope the branches will grow back!
You know your stuff Simon great content🤙🏻
Thanks, Stephan. we appreciate your supportive comment. Kind regards, Simon and Lorna
Great video! I agree with you about o. humifusa - it really is an underwhelming looking plant 😄 further to the species you mentioned, i'd also recommend o. phaeacantha and o. scheerii, both of which survived outdoors for my last winter. 👍
Thanks Great Northern Garden, I appreciate you adding a couple more great choices to the list. Kind regards Simon
Great video, beautiful natural scenery, however I'd get rid of the music as it seems very distracting and artificial in a garden.😜👍
Thanks for your supportive comment Audrey. Kind regards Simon
Full sun? And you are too far mic hard to understand. Speak up
Thank you for your message Michele. I'm not sure why you have a question mark after full sun, could you expand on that? Kind regards Simon
❤❤❤❤У меня есть очень высокая лилия 3 м в высоту❤❤❤
Thank you Anna. Simon
Bamboo's aren't something i grow, if i were to tho think they'd either be in a pot or if ground planted would use a root barrier.
Yes these are two good ideas. However, bamboo generally grow poorly in pots as proven by every pot grown bamboo I have seen. Root barriers are far better, but I have yet to see one that has worked. I'm not saying there aren't ones that do work. The best bet is to purchase a non-root running species. They will be more expensive, but it's saves so much heartache. Thanks for your comment. Simon
You really need to do some research as you are way off with your facts! Aurea has a running rhizome but in most cases it is well behaved, the problem bamboo is aureosulcata! Using products where nothing can grow is great, not!
That is a bold statement, I would love to know what evidence you have, which states that aurea is not invasive under favourable growing conditions 🤔 . I assume you are not from the UK, where this is a well documented issue with this species. Perhaps you could also advise how to control a rampent running root system using an organic control method? I would be interested to hear your experience on this.
@@walkingtalkinggardeners I didn’t say aurea wasn’t invasive, I did say it has a running rhizome, there are far more invasive types and if anything is probably the most well behaved of the Phyllostachys I am from Manchester, which is very much in the uk, I have been growing bamboo for over thirty years and currently have around 40 types in my garden, including what is probably the biggest collection of rare Borindas in a private garden in the uk Ultimately, somebody planted the wrong plant in the wrong place and should have kept it in check or took precautions to stop it spreading. Solution is hard work or a lot of money
@montongarden I think you have missed the point of the video. It is called how to kill and get rid of bamboo. So i have listed all off the viable ways in which this can be done, including pointing out the pros and cons, techniques i would've recommended and explaining that you cannot use commercial herbicides without the required certification. The UK certification trains you in the safest and most responsible way to use herbicides. I, of course, have that certification. You may not like the answers i have given and have a moral issue with using commercial herbicides, but they do exist, they are a viable option and that doesn't make the information in this video wrong. Watch it again from the viewpoint of a typical gardener. Yes there are over 1400 recognised bamboo species and I imagine 70% are more invasive than phyllostachys aurea but what is the most readily available bamboo species in the UK which gardeners buy and have problems with? You guessed it - Phyllostachys aurea. If there are any genuine facts or practices in this video which are incorrect then let me know.
Hello dear. Simon and many thanks for your reply. After your Message i checked my two Big Bad Boys about new fronds and Helas….. Here they are! They are really developing New Big fronds. Have no idea how many will be emerging but i guess this is not only one?! Today i repotted my Self sown Treeferns in their own pots. I am so proud tnat my project of propagating treeferns from spores was so successful. Dear Simon, hope you are well and enjoying Summer. Will be in Britain soon going to Highclere Castell and Newbury for 4 days only. Where do you live, May i ask? Loads of Love Uwe
Hello, Uwe, and thanks for your comment. I'm glad your tree ferns are doing well. I am very familiar with Newbury, having lived there during the industrial placement year of my degree in Horticulture. I live right down on the south coast of England. Kind regards, Simon
Hi Simon, thanks for a useful video. My 20 year old tree fern has done well year on year but this year no fronds have uncurled. It's brown and furry on the top and knuckle shapes but absolutely no leaves and it's July! is there anyway I can save it? Thanks
Hi Annette, and thanks for your question. Regarding your description, it doesn't sound good. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but if it doesn't have fronds by now, it is very likely to have been dead since the winter.😕 Simon
Thank you for the info.
You are very welcome. Simon
We have 2 small clumps of bamboo which have been in the ground for 20 years. Last summer it started to appear in next door’s garden and in our lawn about 8 feet distance from the clump. It’s runners are very close to the surface so not too difficult to remove, but it’s started to shoot up again and I feel we need to remove it. You’ve certainly given me some ideas Simon, but I couldn’t bring myself to use any of those horrible chemicals. Does boiling water and/or salt really work ? Kate.
Hi Kate, yes they will do but like I say in the video I wouldn't recommend. If the clumps are small i would use glysopate as it breaks down in contact with the soil, while a strong salt solution will prevent new plants from growing for a year, maybe two. The boiling water will kill what it touches but you won't know where all the roots are plus it's dangerous to handle. Simon
The only bamboo I have in my garden are bamboo canes staking the crocosmia lucifer and I would feel sorry for anyone who planted this plant in there garden.
I have to agree with you on this. Simon
Could u please make a video without music
Of course, if you go to my KZread video back catalogue you will find it without music under the title 'Mistakes to Avoid Growing Camellias'. Kind regards Simon
Fuchsia will take hard pruning. Have you tried cutting them back to the base?
Hi there. No I have not tried that, but to be fair, I can see several issues with doing that. Have you had success with a cut back to the base in the summer? I would be interested to find out. Simon
My alstroemerias and daylilies are blooming at the moment and we have not seen any scarlet lily beetles for a couple of years now. We used to grow lilies up to a few years ago and you would see lots of them.
Hi Nicholas, glad to hear you are clear of lily beetle. I had a few on the tree lilies and some on the alstromaria this early spring but I haven't seen any for a couple of months here. Simon
My Cannas are being eaten nightly, despite putting the beer traps down, its a pain, what can i do, i cant seem to stop them!! Any advice? Love your informative videos !!
I have replied to your comment a couple of times, yet KZread keeps losing record of it. Did you receive it? Simon
@@walkingtalkinggardeners No, i have never seen your reply.
update, ive had success with 3 beer traps around my canna last night!!
Well done with the beer traps. I have a couple of videos on effective methods for controlling slugsin my KZread video library. The best method us to go out a couple of hours after nightfall with a torch and dispose of them as you see fit. You will need to this nightly until numbers drop then continue every other night to keep numbers low. It's a real drag of a job but it works. Simon
@@walkingtalkinggardeners Brilliant, ill try that too, cheers Simon!
Lovely video. Thank you. I only have 2 of the giant lily. The perfume at night has been amazing
You are very welcome, and yes, the perfume is absolutely wonderful. Simon
My oak sapling has white powdery mildew and I was told to spray it with water with 10% milk.dont know if it will be effective or not😱
Hi Stephen. Yes, I have the same problem with our oak seedlings. They are usually fine by the second year. Yes, you can use a milk solution, just be aware that their might be a smell from the residue if you are using it a lot. Small amounts should be fine. Alternatively, use a pre-mixed garden fungicide, they are all pretty good. Simon
Nice. Thanks for the walk around.
You are very welcome, Simon.
Interesting. But I guess why would you want it to flower? Apart from the novelty value of maybe never having one flower before?
Ahhh, because that is the driver of every horticulturist and botanist in the country. It is the challenge of taking a plant from one country's environment and doing your best to mimic its growing conditions in this country. Get it right, and the plant blooms! If you can produce viable seed which germinate to provide the next generation of plants then you have won the game. Manage this with an economically valuable plant such as tea or the potato, and the riches are endless. Also, if you can't get your plants to flower, then in time, you end up with a dead garden. Great question, Simon
Great video.
Thanks Richard, we appreciate your positive feedback. Kind regards Simon
Hi Simon I’ve just ordered some salmon star oriental hybrid lily bulbs.is it ok to mix John innes no 3 with ericaceous soil or use multi purpose compost?thanks as always!
Hi Stephen, your ericaceous mix would be best. Simon
My cycad has what looks like green mould on the trunk. There is also some discolouration on the leaves. I’ve tried googling the symptoms but can't find any relevant information. Any ideas would be greater appreciated!
Hi there, is the truck still solid? Are there signs of weeping sap, or softening tissue? Regarding the leaves, can you describe the discolouration further? Simon
Hi, the trunk still seems solid but the leaves have what I would describe as 1cm long white marks. I'm pretty sure the white marks are not an infestation caused by bugs. The leaves are still green and upright. I'm thinking I may repot it and check the condition of the roots at the same time. I just bought a few days ago but in my excitement forgot to thoroughly check the condition!
I bought a monkey puzzle sapling a few months ago and it’s already nearly a foot tall.im just fascinated by them and know I shouldn’t have bought it but its planted about 40 feet from the house so I will see how it goes!😱
I don't blame you Stephen, they are truly magnificent and unlike any of out native trees in the UK. It sounds like you have planted far enough away so hopefully you will gain the full benefit of this glorious tree. Simon
I have also grown this flame lily. It is also found in jungles here in Jharkhand state of India. Beautiful flowers.
Wonderful!
If I plant a young red hydrangea in ericaceous soil will it still turn blue?
No, this works with known blue cultivars that have turned pink due to soil alkalinity. Simon
Thanks I’m learning little bits each day🤙🏻
You are very welcome. Simon
Great job, it was the bees knees.
Thanks Nicholas, I thought it was time Lorna stood in front of the camera.
Interesting channel. Interesting people. I am glad I clicked on the video.
Thanks Cebelihle, we appreciate your kind comments. Simon and Lorna
I just got my first bamboo from my mom as a gift but 3 weeks in the tips of the leaves are turning brown, how often do I water it cuz I feel like I didn’t water it a lot.
If it's in the ground in a free draining soil it will need regularly watering in its first year until it establishes. Without knowing your whereabouts in the world it's difficult to say how much that would be but if you can keep the soil regulary moist during the summer without it becoming waterlogged then you should be about right. Kind regards Simon
@@walkingtalkinggardeners its in a potted vase with some rockt thats how i got it so the water stay in it. and am from california.
Any advice on why my white garden lilies bloomed and suddenly have brown tips?
I’m in South Africa and it’s winter (they bloomed for the first time in late June)
Hi Tasha. Is it Zantedeschia which you have the problem with? Simon
@@walkingtalkinggardeners thanks for replying and yes :)
No problem, this is likely to be one of two things. Either the soil is waterlogged and has caused root damage which will affect the ability of the plant to absorb water or the soil is too dry. Both instances cause the petals, which are modified leaves, to dry out at the tips, causing them to go brown. I hope this helps. Kind regards Simon
@@walkingtalkinggardeners thanks Simon! Most likely the former - should I cut them off from the bottom of stem or leave them?
Hello to the Island, I am very happy with all your usefull comments and Tipps. My newly aquired Treefern Trunks, very, very huge in size are growing very well. Giving them a regular feeding they had produced fronds almost 1,8 Meters nearly. Hope they will Shooting more fronds this year or the Next. Thanks for your useful Tipps and advice. Loads of Love Uwe
Hi Uwe, I am glad to see you are having success with your tree ferns. 1.7 metres is excellent for tree fern fronds. With luck, you will get another emergence of fronds soon. Mine are just starting. Kind regards Simon
Hi there . I have two 5 ft trunk tree ferns. What's the best fertiliser to use in the Crown. Liquid feed or pellets. Thanks, Phil..
Hi Phil and thanks for the great question. My friend uses chicken pellets in his, while I use Miracle-gro in mine. I should say that mine look amazing right now and are about to unfurl its next round of fronds. Simon
👍🏼
Thanks Izzy, I appreciate that. Simon 🙂
I’ve only just got a small one 6 weeks ago it’s tripled in size already so fingers crossed
It's a great choice Richard, I wish you all the best with it. Simon
My group of bananas has flowered every year since 2000. They are about 16 feet or more high, and have been in the garden for years
Well done Mark, you clearly have a good hand on your banana stand. Well done. Simon
Beautiful looking garden, its the bees knees.
Thanks Nicholas, the work is starting to pay off. Simon