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Q - ÌýI garden in a wet climate on heavy clay soil.Ìý My garden is in a frost pocket too.Ìý What plants could you suggest?

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Bob – Leeks. ÌýCabbages.Ìý Spinach.Ìý Roses.Ìý

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Anne – Try and create little microclimates within your garden.Ìý We have a Gunnera in ours that wouldn’t normally work because we’ve protected it.

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Neil – Wingnuts.Ìý ‘Bloodroot’ (Sanguinaria canadensis).Ìý

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Q – My son’s lawn is very damp – can we run drainage pipes into the storm drain?

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Bob – You’ll have to check with the council.Ìý Alternatively, you could put lots of sharp sand in and then re-soil six inches (15cm) higher.Ìý

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Q – We’ve a large bank area at the back of house that used to have Conifers and Heathers growing in it.Ìý We took them out and now we’ve got a big, bare space – what can we plant there?

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Neil – Nasturtiums.Ìý

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Anne – Go for Alpines like Helianthemums or Rock Roses’.Ìý And ‘Sun Roses’.

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Bob – Raspberry canes

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Q – What type of fertiliser will be most resistant to the heavy rainfall?

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Neil – We put a mulch end-of-February/early-March.Ìý Grazing rye and vetch would lock the nutrients up

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Bob – Ground rock potash is very slow-release.Ìý Coarse ground bone meal.Ìý Blood fish and bone.Ìý

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Q – All my plants prefer rainwater to tap water.Ìý If there’s a light shower should I not water with the hose and let them reap the benefits of the rainwater?

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Christine – Do you want to wet a large volume of soil so I would use the hose.Ìý You want to give it a gentle soak with a small droplet spray.Ìý

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Q – Any suggestions for architectural green plants to give a jungle/oasis feeling to the garden?

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Bunny – Palm.Ìý Castor oil plants.Ìý Tithonia. Canna ehemanii.

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Matthew – Tetrapanax papyrifer.Ìý Paulownia tomentosa (‘Foxglove Tree’).Ìý ‘Indian Bean Tree’ (Catalpa bignonioides).Ìý ‘Angel’s Fishing Rod’ (Dierama pulcherrimum).Ìý

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Christine – Acanthus ‘Archer’s Gold’.Ìý Nandina domestica (‘Sacred Bamboo’).Ìý Cercis canadensis or siliquastrum.Ìý

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Q – I would like to grow Streptocarpus but I’m not having any success.Ìý Advice?

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Christine – It needs to be damp but well-drained – which is a skill.Ìý

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Q – I would like to plant a Camomile lawn – approx. 3m x 6m (10ft x 20ft) – will I be able to grow enough plants from seed and how many plants will I need?

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Bunny – You don’t want the flowering seed for a lawn, you want Camomile treneague and that you do from cuttings.Ìý You’ll need to have more cuttings to fill in the gaps as it gets older.

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Q – I have banana trees that are 12ft-15ft (3.5m-4.5m) on the stem.Ìý How do I protect them during winter?

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Christine – I would create a structure round them and fill it with straw.Ìý

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Matthew – this must be the ‘Japanese Hardy Banana’ (Musa basjoo) – I don’t think you need to be overly cautious

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Bunny – I slot interlocking clay drainage pipes and encase them that way