GardenForum - for everyone interested in gardening
If there's anything you want to know about gardening - get in touch
Professional services
My professional horticultural services
Need a speaker?
For horticultural societies & clubs
Garden Answers FAQ
Answers to commonly asked questions
Question time
How do I look after container plants?
How do I look after my lawn in spring?
How do I prune clematis?
Why aren't my daffodils flowering?
How do I cope with flooding?
Pest Watch
Lily beetle control
Vine weevil control
Whitefly control
Clematis wilt
Links
Links to useful websites
My blog
View my blog
Gardening products & plants
You can buy a wide range of plants, seeds & products from the follwing recognised companies in confidence.
Garden answers
Herbaceous perennials
Help solve your gardening problem. Here are the answers to some commonly asked gardening questions about herbaceous perennials.
If you are unable to find the answer here, then send me an e-mail
We were given a hosta. Although its leaves remained a beautiful green through summer, they turned a bright shade of yellow and rotted in autumn. Please help if you can.
Panic not! This is natural. Hostas are deciduous - that is they loose their leaves in autumn. I'm sure it will come up as normal in spring.
The leaves and young stems of my perennial phlox plants are deformed and the leaves are reduced to narrow frills. What's wrong?
Your plants have been affected by phlox eelworm, which can be difficult to control.
However, phlox are attacked by an eelworm that invades the stems, so those already present in the plant wouldn't be touched. And there isn't an insecticide available to gardeners that can be used to kill those already present in the stems.
Funnily enough, stem eelworms don't attack the roots and one way to propagate affected plants is to take root cuttings - the new plants will be perfectly healthy.
Root cuttings are normally taken in winter, but it may be worth taking them at any time if you feel the plants are on their way out.
Any new plants bought or propagated should be planted in fresh soil away from the existing clump.
I have a plant called Phytolacca americana. Each year it seems to get bigger and is now getting out of hand. Can I take cuttings and start again? If so how do I do this?
Phytolacca is propagated by dividing plants in spring. Simply lift the plant, carefully split the crown into smaller sections each with as many buds as you want - the fewer the buds, the smaller the resulting plant will be - and replant.
Back to GardenForum Horticulture homepage