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For further information and advice on Ragwort, as mentioned in the show, please follow this link to the RHS website:Ìý

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Q – I once accepted some wild garlic from a friend… how do I get rid of it?

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Bob – It’s difficult because it has bulbils and it seeds. You could eat it.Ìý Cut it close and regularly as if it was grass.Ìý But really there is no way to completely get rid of it.Ìý Mulch areas you want to stop it coming up.

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Anne – Ignore it

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James – Hack it back constantly.Ìý Or use a weed-proof membrane.Ìý

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Q – Why am I so naff at growing carrots?

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Bob – If you sow thinly in a drill then, if your soil is prone to capping, they haven’t got the strength to push through.Ìý If you throw them in thicker then they have the power to push through.Ìý Seeds grow better where they want to grow.Ìý Sew more thickly and then once you see where they’re coming up, thin out scrupulously to an inch apart.

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Anne – If your soil is a bit heavy you could cover them in a compost which has good grit in it

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James – A lot of things in the Apiaceae/carrot family have a short window of viability.Ìý So sow them fresher rather than later.Ìý If you are keeping seeds then keep them cool rather than warm.

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Q – How do you train an already established rose over a wooden arch?Ìý I think it is a climbing rose but they’re growing over 5ft up above the frame

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Bob – I think it’s a rambling one!

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Anne – Even the most vigorous climbers won’t elongate 5ft (1.5m) in the air.Ìý If it is a rambler then, after the summer, cut out the majority of the old stems and tie the new ones.Ìý If it is a climber then keep tying it down.

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Bob – I had a bed of ‘Queen Elizabeth’ that will grow 8-10ft (2.5m-3m) if well fed – so I just made a structure from which I could look down on them!

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Q – Lemongrass; how can I grow it?

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James – Easiest way is to buy a stem from the supermarket, put it in a glass of water, when it roots pot it up in a warm environment.Ìý However, in the UK we don’t have long enough seasons/hot enough summers to grow the bit that you eat in Asian-style eating.Ìý A good substitute would be Lemon Verbena.

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Feature:

Climbing beans

Runner beans

Courgettes

Lebanese Courgettes (round ones)

Sunflowers

Edible kale

Cabbage white butterfly

Marigolds

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Q – Can you recommend a good variety of potato to grow on chalky soil?

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Bob – Go for earlies and second-earlies.Ìý With chalk you’ll find that the lime with give the potatoes very scabby skin.Ìý Experiment with different varieties to find one you like the taste off.Ìý For good yield try ‘Lady Balfour’.Ìý For chips use ‘Cosmos’.

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Anne – You might want to try a raised bed so you can add more soil and compost

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James – My favourite is called ‘Purple Majesty’

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Q – Last year I grew a Tagetes minuta on my allotment as it was said to discourage bindweed.Ìý Is this true and are there other plants that might do the same job?

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Bob – I would plant the minuta about a foot each way and then it produces such dense shade that it will exclude almost everything.Ìý

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James – The Tagetes minuta is a type of Marigold.Ìý It’s called minuta because of the tiny size of its flowers.Ìý

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Q – What can we grow as an ‘edible wall’ on a shaded high street?

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James – Strawberries like Alpine Strawberries.Ìý Smaller tomatoes like Red Robin, Tom Thumb, Tumbling ones.Ìý Chillies.Ìý Salad crops.Ìý Anything advertised as suitable for a window box would work.Ìý

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Anne – There is an Oriental Cucumber that would work

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Bob – I’d have lots of trays of compost with micro greens

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Q – In our garden we have a rotten fence that we’d like to replace it with living plants.Ìý What can we do?Ìý The spot is near the sea so it is windy and salty.

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Bob – You could plant lots of Ivy that will make a hedge over the old structure

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Anne – If you had palings fitted you could add a few wild hedging plants like sloes.Ìý Then you could add in more edible plants like goji berries and the honeyberry

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Eric – Japanese wineberry

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James – Safe options: Griselinia littoralis. ÌýRosa rugosa the Japanese Beech Rose.Ìý Riskier option: Fuschia magellanica.Ìý

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Q – We have two raised beds of approx. 1m x 3m (3.5ft x 10ft) and a herb wheelbarrow.Ìý What can we put in them?

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Anne – Grow some Florence Fennel.Ìý

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Bob – Sweet peas.Ìý

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James – Jasminium sambac/Arabian Jasmine.Ìý It’s very different to the conventional Jasminium officinale.Ìý Also, citruses like Lemon, Yuzu, Orange, Kaffir Lime.Ìý Lemon Eucalyptus.Ìý Gardenia.