Yellowing leaves on an azalea is caused by iron deficiency. Being ericaceous plants, Azaleas thrive in a low lime environment. If you have alkaline soil, then your azalea will be having trouble absorbing sufficient iron to keep it fit and healthy. Haskins recommends feeding it regularly with a specialist plant food, such as Miracle-Gro Liquid Ericaceous Plant Food – a fast-acting tonic that combats iron-deficiency and boosts lack-lustre blooms.

Moss growing in the lawn is usually a symptom for an underlying cause.

The cause could be one of the following:

• That the site is too shady

• That the soil itself may not have sufficient drainage

• That the grass is starved of nutrients making it weak, vulnerable and in need of food.

Whatever the cause, if you don’t deal with the underlying problem the chances are that the moss will return even after you have removed it all. So if you have moss in your lawn here are some points to consider:

1. Do a soil test, if your soil is heavy clay it will require annual addition of sharp sand to improve drainage.

2. Aerate your lawn every autumn, using a machine or hand-tool that removes a plug, refilling the holes with sharp sand.

3. Scarify your lawn every Autumn. Use a decent lawn rake rather than a machine because machines don’t tend get all of the moss. Raking a lawn with a rake is also an excellent way to keep fit! You can also lightly rake the lawn in Spring, removing further thatch and moss.

4. If moss is a problem on shady patches of the lawn there are shade tolerant grass seed varieties that may be more successful in such conditions.

5. Keep your lawn healthy by feeding it regularly with a fertiliser high in Nitrogen. Well-fed, healthy lawns will compete strongly against moss.

When Daffodils do not produce flowers they are said to be blind. There are many possible reasons that Daffodils do not flower, these are:

1. The site is too shady, Daffodils prefer full sun or light shade.

2. A high Nitrogen feed has been used in the area where the Daffodils are growing to feed other plants, resulting in excessive leafy growth at the expense of flowers.

3. The leaves have been cut back prematurely in the previous year. Daffodil leaves should be withered and brown before they are cut back.

4. There has not been enough rain during the growing season.

5. There has been too much rain during the period of dormancy. If the soil is waterlogged the bulb will rot.

6. The clump of daffodils has become congested. Dig up the clump and only replant the best, healthiest bulbs.

The Forest Stewardship Council enables you to buy forest products of all kinds with confidence that you are not contributing to global forest destruction. FSC certified forests are managed to ensure long term timber supplies while protecting the environment and the lives of forest-dependent people. FSC certification can also cover non-timber forest products such as latex and foods.

How does FSC promote responsible forest management?

FSC has developed a system of forest certification and product labeling that allows consumers to identify wood and wood-based products from well-managed forests.

How does the FSC system work?
Forests are inspected and certified against strict standards based on FSC’S 10 Principles of Forest Stewardship. These inspections are undertaken by independent organisations, such as the Soil Association, that are accredited by the FSC. In order to be given FSC certification a forest must be managed in an environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial and economically viable manner. This is what makes the FSC system unique and ensures that a forest is well-managed from the protection of indigenous people’s rights to the methods of felling trees. Forests that meet these strict standards are given FSC certification and the timber is allowed to carry the FSC label.

What does the FSC label mean?

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) logo on a wood or wood based product is your assurance that it is made with, or contains, wood that comes from FSC certified forests or from post-consumer waste.

Which products carry the label?

The FSC label is currently found on over 10,000 product lines in the UK alone. You’ll find it on garden furniture, decking, sheds, conservatories, tools, bird boxes and bird tables, kitchen, bathroom and general house wares, brushes, wall paper, flooring, doors, shelves, furniture, toilet tissue, paper, pencils – in fact most things made from wood. It can also be found on less obvious items such as charcoal.

Why is the FSC trademark different from forest certification schemes?
There are a number of other forest certification schemes around but they do not have the same strict environmental, social and economic standards or such a rigorous chain of custody; tracking timber from the forest to the final user. Therefore the FSC is the only one endorsed by the major environment charities including WWF, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace and the Woodland Trust.

Do FSC certified products cost more?
Like all products it depends on the availability but on the whole familiar items will be roughly the same price as non-FSC items.

This does not mean that they are frost proof. Nothing is completely frost proof and most pots, regardless of what it is made of, if filled with water and allowed to freeze will crack.

How frost resistant a pot is can be determined by the firing temperature of the pot and the type of clay it has been from. However, the important thing to remember is to ensure that the pot is well drained. Do this by raising it off the ground using pot feet of small stones and keeping the drainage holes in the base of the pot free from obstruction.

Terracotta pots are very vulnerable in the winter due to their porous nature. Treating the pot with a sealant may prolong the life of the pot but water may still soak into the surface of the pot and then freeze. This causes the surface to flake.

Earthenware pots are normally glazed. They are normally less porous than terracotta pots and tend to be more durable over the winter. However, the unglazed areas, such as inside the pot, are still slightly porous and can absorb water and therefore be vulnerable to frost damage. In bad winter conditions the glaze on the pots may blow out or flake off. It is important to keep these pots well drained at all times.

The most durable type of pot is the stoneware or salt glazed pot. These are fired at a much higher temperature than other pots. The firing makes the types of clay vitrify, meaning that the clay particles bond together so that water molecules are too big to be absorbed into the pot. The water proof nature of the pot makes them more durable in frosty conditions.

The following are suggested:
• Use a daisy grubber to remove shallow rooted, rosette forming weeds from the lawn
• Stubborn rosette forming lawn weeds can be painted with a herbicide gel
• Tackle coarse grasses growing in the lawn by slashing through the crown with a knife before mowing
• Rake the stems of weeds with long runners to the surface before mowing lawns. Regular mowing will eventually weaken and kill the weed
• Haskins recommend that lawns that are smothered with weeds and moss are best treated with a weed and feed product.

Different plants thrive in varying soils, so it is important and to know what feeds or treatments can be applied to help balance or match in your soil to your plants.

You can test your soil acidity with a simple soil testing kit available to purchase from Haskins. Most plants prefer a pH of 6.5 to 7 , however Ericaceous plants (e.g. rhododendrons) need acid soil, while plants such as lilacs grow better in alkaline soil. A simple way of finding out the type of soil in your garden is by rubbing some damp soil between your fingers:
• Clay soil will be sticky and be easy to roll into a ball
• Sandy soil will feel gritty and won’t hold together
• Silty soil will feel silky, and while it won’t hold together into a ball like clay it will make a roll
• Loamy soil is brown and crumbly in texture and has a lot of organic matter in it
• Chalky soil is very light and doesn’t hold water well. When digging you will find chunks of white chalk or flint. Chalky soil is always alkaline
• Peaty soil is almost black and spongy to touch and holds a lot of water

Feeding garden plants provides the best opportunity for them to thrive. Here are a few tips on giving your garden a healthy diet containing the right nutrients for your plants.
• Feed beds and borders in the spring with a slow release fertiliser around plants
• Vegetables will also thrive if fed three times a year with a slow release fertiliser
• Use a liquid fertiliser weekly to keep flowers in pots healthy during the peak growing and flowering season
• Mix controlled release fertiliser granules into compost mixes to feed container grown plants over a long period
• Fork organic matter into soil before planting in the spring and mulch existing permanent plant displays with a thick layer of organic matter
• If a plant appears unhealthy, use a fast-acting, quick release liquid plant food to give it a pick me up.

The colour of most hydrangeas (not white ones) varies due to the Ph of the soil which affects the aluminium availability. Typically they grow blue in acid soil conditions, mauve in acid to neutral soil conditions, and pink in alkaline conditions.

Mophead cultivators are the only ones that it is possible to change the colour of. Encouraging colour change can be tricky and if not done correctly can have a negative effect on the plant’s health. To change hydrangea blooms to pink the plant must not take up aluminium from the soil. To do this try adding dolomitic lime to the soil several times a year to help raise the pH level. Alternatively, use a high level phosphorus fertiliser. Look for a fertilizer with a ration of 25/10/10.

To change hydrangea blooms to blue, aluminium must be present in the soil. To ensure this add hydrangea colourant to the soil, following the manufactures guidelines carefully. Before adding this colourant make sure the plant is well watered to prevent the roots from being burnt. An alternative method of lowering the pH is to add organic matter to the soil such as coffee grounds, fruit and vegetable peel, grass clippings or using iron sulphate. Using a fertilizer low in phosphorus and high in potassium will also help. 

One of the best ideas for growing hydrangeas is to grow them in a large pot where the soil and growing requirements are easier to control.

Companion planting is where you plant certain plants in near proximity to benefit each other. It is an ancient gardening tradition that’s primarily about pest control where different plants attract beneficial insects. Companion planting also helps to create plant communities where the plants help each other by providing nutrients in the soil and offering protection from the wind and sun. 

Another theory is that because pests find their host plants through taste and smell mixing different crops together makes it harder for the pests to find their host plants and to travel through the crop. 

For this method of planting to be most successful, make sure companion plants are planted at the same time as the edible crop to prevent pests from getting a foothold.

Here are some companion planting suggestions:
• Plant French Marigolds in between tomato plants to deter aphids
• Planting nasturtiums in with cabbages attracts caterpillars which will then leave the cabbages alone
• Garlic planted among roses will ward off aphids
• Grow dill in the garden to attract aphid-eating hoverflies

It is essential, particularly in periods of drought, that water is used wisely in the garden. Water saving tips include:
• Mulching flower beds and borders to prevent moisture loss
• Water in the evenings when the temperature is cooler and evaporation is reduced
• Fitting an automatic irrigation system to target watering and run at night
• Use a water butt or recycle grey water from the house
• Mix water-retaining gel with your compost in baskets and containers
• Raise the blade on the lawn mower so that grass becomes deeper rooted and loses less moisture from evaporation