Real questions from readers, with answers from Tomasgreen. Browse published garden cases or ask a question of your own.
Ask your own question →103 results
You have already picked the apples and cut one open. Pip colour gives a useful indication in early September, but not quite the answer many people expect.
Read on
The violet-blue flowers with their creamy yellow centres and the spreading growth point clearly to one plant. Here is its name, and what determines where it will thrive in your garden.
Read on
You still have fruit to harvest, making the precise timing more important than the word ‘autumn’. The photograph shows an established apple tree where a few small corrective cuts now may be better than a larger pruning session later.
Read on
You describe a hole and crumbly frass. The photograph shows one apple that has turned brown and shrivelled while nearby fruit looks normal. That combination points more towards damage within the fruit than a disease affecting the whole tree.
Read on
Your apple tree has dark brown, almost oily-looking leaf patches, and only a few leaves have fallen so far. That combination points more towards scab than normal autumn colouring and affects what to do now.
Read on
Your horseradish is growing strongly in the ground and looks established. In Norrmalm, the question is less the cold itself than protecting the root where the position is open to frost and wind.
Read on
The photograph shows dark marks that could resemble scab, but you also describe brown, soft, mouldy flesh beneath them. That is the difference between blemished skin and an apple that should not be eaten.
Read on
They do not yet look like ripe shop-bought pears, but the narrow neck and the ‘star’ at the tip reveal their identity. The photograph also helps explain why they are still so small in early September.
Read on
The bright orange leaf spots fit apple rust closely, and you say there are junipers nearby. That detail tells us more about the next step than the colour alone.
Read on
You say the fruit already comes away easily when lifted and twisted, and the apples on the tree vary a little in colour and ripeness. Timing is therefore more about picking the right fruit now than setting one date for the whole tree.
Read on
You describe unripe apples on the ground in Norrmalm, and the photograph shows fruit that appears to have fallen without visible damage. That detail helps distinguish normal fruit drop from something that needs attention.
Read on
The berries in the photograph are rowan berries and look fully ripe in early September. The main question is not simply whether they can be eaten, but how you intend to eat them.
Read onFor everyone who loves plants, has questions and is looking for inspiration throughout the year.
Find something to grow with