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Q – My mum bought me an aloe vera plant but the leaves have lost their juiciness and have gone flat.Ìý What am I doing wrong?

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Bob – They don’t like cold.Ìý And they need a lot of light.Ìý And give it lots of water in the summer.Ìý

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Q – I’ve been growing chilies for a while but I can never get them past two harvests.Ìý What can I do?

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Pippa – Two isn’t bad!Ìý You need to keep summer conditions throughout the year if you want to go on longer than that.Ìý

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Anne – Some varieties are better than others so visit a specialist nursery

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Bob – If you want good chilies then keep getting fresh plants

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Q – I would like to grow a bamboo – what is the fastest-growing species and should I plant it in a container?

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Pippa – I would go for clump-forming bamboos because they don’t overrun things as much

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Bob – Go for Leycesteria instead.Ìý Kerria japonica is out of fashion but would do the job too

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Anne – They would both reach about 8ft (2.4m).Ìý Some of the filistasish would do you 15-20ft (4.5-6m). ÌýArundo donax?

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Bob – Juniper ‘Skyrockets’.Ìý

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Q – A friend gave me a baby pineapple in January.Ìý It’s now not dead but it isn’t thriving.Ìý What can I do?

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Bob – In the first year it’s not going to do much.Ìý It’s better to mist it rather than water it.Ìý End of July pot it up with gritty compost.Ìý Keep it warm and dry over winter.Ìý Do the same next year.Ìý And then for a third year.Ìý Then you should get some action.

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Anne – Other people grow ornamental Bromeliads like Neoregelia or Aechmea and they’re not even going to get fruit from them! Three years to wait is fine.

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Q – I have a tiny south-facing garden with big fences all around and all my plants are covered in mildew and dust mites.Ìý How can I improve the air?

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Pippa – Mildew loves stagnant air.Ìý Make sure things are well watered but don’t water the tops of the plants.Ìý

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Anne – These sound like Red Spider Mites rather than dust mites.Ìý

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Q – Three years ago I brought home some almonds and I now have five good trees in different places.Ìý Will they grow true?

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Bob – Each one will be slightly different.Ìý Any peaches near to these almonds are going to cross and the fruits will be ruined!

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Q – Today we planted a plant called Mind-Your-Own-Business which we found amusing.Ìý Can you recommend any others in the same vein?

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Pippa – Squirting Cucumbers.Ìý Writing something onto a courgette/marrow can be fun.

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Bob – ‘Kiss me in the Buttery’ (Wild Pansy).Ìý There’s a spineless Opuntia (Prickly Pears) called ‘Scrunchy Neil’

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Anne – The Mouse Plant (Arisarum proboscideum).Ìý Dicentra ‘Lady in the Bath’.Ìý ‘Yesterday Today and Tomorrow’ (Brunfelsia pauciflora).Ìý

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Q – This year I got my first garden and I’d quite like it to look magical with soft, fluffy foliage and unusual flowers in it.Ìý Things like an Allium schubertii.

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Anne – South African Restios.Ìý Dicoma capensis.Ìý

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Pippa – Contorted Hazel

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Bob – Pampas grasses and Miscanthus around the edge.Ìý And then Cannas coming out of them

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Anne – Dierama (Angel’s Fishing Rod)

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Bob – Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’.Ìý You could set a Prunus serrula over a ‘Chinese Lantern’ – that looks lovely.