I've kept a French tarragon plant in a 'largish' pot for about four years now, and it continues to do well. A really good herb. They are supposed to be a bit tender so I move the pot into the greenhouse each autumn. But I agree with Pawty, the branches die right back each year, and then new shoots c...

I seem to remember, years ago, reading that there are many different species of bramble, even if, superficially, they can look quite similar. Certainly I've found a big distinction in my last garden and my present garden, between brambles with fibrous roots, which seem to come out easily and don't r...

I seem to remember, years ago, reading that there are many different species of bramble, even if, superficially, they can look quite similar. Certainly I've found a big distinction in my last garden and my present garden, between brambles with fibrous roots, which seem to come out easily and don't r...

Interesting about cross-pollinating...On the advice of someone on the forum, we've grown Trieste White, a short, stubby Cousa-type courgette for the last two years. They've been good. This year, though, one of the plants has turned out to have short, stubby cougettes - and with green stripes. I don'...

Are there any bokashi enthusiasts on the forum? Since moving to this smaller garden 5 years ago, I've been using the bokashi system to compost household waste like vegetable/fruit peelings and coffee grounds, and have been very happy with the results. The last lot of bokashi bran I bought, though, d...

Tricky! But to get the ball rolling...In a similar situation, we find 2 cucumber plants are enough. For tomatoes, I'd grow 2 Latah (very early bush variety), 1 Sungold and 1 Gardners Delight. A shame you don't want to preserve anything though, because it's very easy to get a glut of various crops. A...

Good to hear from you, Johnboy. This in fact is what I've done - and I think the heavy rain last weekend may also have washed some away/drowned some. So far, so good, but I'll keep an eye on the trees for sign of a return.

Well done, Westi - thank you for this! Good timing, too. I couldn't have sprayed yesterday as it rained all day. We got 18mm, virtually the same as we got for the whole of June, so it was very welcome, even though the forecast was saying we could get over 50mm.

Many thanks, Monika - I'll do that. I'd swear it was the KG site, though,as I'm not a member of any other gardening forums...

I was summer-pruning my apples last weekend, and was stopped in my tracks on seeing a problem I haven't experienced in many years of growing apples, but instantly recognized - woolly aphids! The RHS Fruit Book recommends using systemic insecticides, but I'd rather not. Has anyone got any other sugge...

Apologies for this one - I raised the problem of mildew on courgette plants some time ago, and here I go again. Someone kindly said that they found spraying the plants with diluted milk helped, but I can't remember the details. I've searched the archive without success. If someone could give me that...

No, it wasn't honey fungus. Something simpler and less sinister. Having cut all the branches off and chopped them up for recycling, I pushed against the main trunk, and it moved. A bit more heaving from different sides and it came out easily. It had hardly any root ball, and just three thin roots br...

I'd be interested to hear what other forum members say about shortage or otherwise of bumblebees. Despite a lot of flowers/blossom in bloom here in urban Kent, bee numbers of all sorts seem to me to be low this year. And the bumblebee trust which has a website might be interested to hear about the f...

Well, that's what worries me. I haven't dug round the roots yet to look for 'boot laces' but I guess I'll have to try that. No other plants in our garden have succumbed as far as I can see.

I hope it's acceptable to include a query on Mahonia on the Kitchen Garden website...the fruit are supposed to be edible! It's just to say that the mature Mahonia in our garden appears to have died over the winter. I'm very surprised by this as I normally think of them as being as tough as old boots...