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Q – What three things would the panel suggest to turn a novice into a gardener?

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Anne – Separate the landscape from the plants.Ìý For the plants you could collect cacti or succulents, intersectional peonies, bearded irises.Ìý

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Bob – Don’t take on too much.Ìý

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Q – We have an uneven lawn that I can’t afford to dig up and relay.Ìý I find it hard to spot the hollows.Ìý Do you have any tips?

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Matt – You can lay turf on top of the hollows, surround with topsoil, and then scatter seed on top.Ìý Over time you won’t be able to notice the difference.Ìý

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Bob – Borrow some geese and let them nibble the grass.Ìý Then you can spot the hollows easily and you can fill them in with soil.

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Q – What are your favourite shrubs for this time of year?

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Matt – Daphne bholua ‘Jaqueline Postill’.Ìý All Daphnes are good at this time of year.Ìý

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Bob – Winter Honeysuckle (Locinera fragrantissima)Ìý

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Anne – Witch Hazel (Hamamelis).

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Q – Have you got any advice on how to stop hedge sparrows from eating my runner bean flowers?

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Bob – Try putting some bird baths out so they have a source of water.Ìý

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Anne – Are we talking about Hedge Sparrows or House Sparrows?Ìý Hedge Sparrows go around on their own or in pairs, and they are the Dunnocks; House Sparrows move around in little flocks.Ìý

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Bob – Get an aloe vera plant, mix the sap with water and then spray that on.Ìý It’s very bitter.

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Anne – You could grow a dwarf variety like Hestia and that would make it easier to net.

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Q – More than 30 years ago my dad bought my mum a Tiger Paw’s Begonia.Ìý How can I get it to flower?Ìý I have had it for thirteen years but had no luck.

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Anne – Feed it with a high potash fertiliser like a very dilute tomato feed.Ìý

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Matt – You could try Begonia sutherlandii – it is a beautiful flowering Begonia.Ìý

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Q – I love Phormiums but on my sunny, well-drained clay they get out of control.Ìý They can reach 5m (16.5ft) in five years.Ìý How can I tame them?Ìý Or are there any smaller varieties?

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Bob – The dark-leaved ones are slightly less vigorous than the green ones.Ìý If you put the dark ones in a vase with some Nerines it’s a beautiful black/pink combination.

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Anne – There’s one called ‘Alison Blackman’.Ìý Or ‘Sundowner’.Ìý ‘Maori Sunset’ or ‘Mauri Queen’. I dig up and divide them every four years.Ìý

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Matt – Try growing them in smaller pots so they’re easier to manage.Ìý

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Panel seed suggestions:

Bob – Night-scented Stock or Virginian Stock

Anne – Echium vulgare (Viper’s Bugloss)

Matt – Field poppy (Papaver rhoeas)

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Q – How can I make the clay soil in my garden more manageable?

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Bob – As much organic material as you can lay your hands on.Ìý Mushroom compost is good.Ìý It will take a couple of years though.Ìý If you’re not growing a lot of ericaceous plants then adding lime will help.Ìý Sand and grit help but they are heavy.

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Anne – I’d put some beds on top of the soil

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Matt – I use untreated railway sleepers to raise the ground by about four inches and then put well-rotted organic matter on top.Ìý Then I use raised bed for my vegetables.Ìý

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