Ask Gerry

My greenhouse is lower than the lawn which slopes towards it.  Any tips on preventing water seeping into slabs on floor?RegardsKathleen ok

  

I had this gorgeous plant – as per attachment – until it died recently. I don`t know the name of it – can you help and identify this plant please and can you guide where i would be able to purchase it please.

I have cosmos planted in trays in greenhouse that are now approx 2 inch tall but just two leaves on top and tall and string looking. What should I do next?

I have I think a variety of Arbutus. it seems to be suffering in some way. im wondering if you can have a look at the pictures and see what you think, and if i can treat it.

We are in the middle of having our back garden done. Living in Wicklow town in an estate with a south East facing garden . Relatively sheltered but with a steep slope at the back. We are putting decking at the bottom, outside the back door with steps up to a higher level of decorative stone. Sleepers will divide here and the steep bank where we had planned to cover with decorative bark (over weed fabric) and finish with low maintenance shrubs of some kind. This bank gets a lot of run off water from the gardens above. We have had a drainage system installed at the back of the retaining wall and under the deck. I like evergreens that give some colour like the skylark .. I also like the fetterbush and acres. Perhaps we should settle with ground cover plants and make some kind of rockery instead ? I see Lidl have some lovely ground cover plants at the moment .. like vinca minor variegated among others.. we have been told by some that the bark will not stay on the slope.. would you recommend putting down a hessian mesh on top till it settles in or forget the bark mulch altogether? Any ideas would be really appreciated.

I have a raised bed in a small unheated greenhouse. In summer I have tomato plants in it. Last winter I overwintered strawberry plants in it. this year I would like some colour in it for winter. Can you recommend anything? It fits about 10 tomato plants. The greenhouse is not made of glass.

We have a blank canvas site around new build house. Site is 50m wide by 80 m long. We don't want to cultivate back 30m at all (for now). Would you advise irregular shelter belt tree planting to section it off or go for a beech/hornbeam hedge right across 50m? I'd prefer general low maintenance mixed rural planting and then put efforts into vegetables growing, small borders etc. Would irregular tree planting provide enough of a boundary? In general I think many people struggle with large sites and planning for future maintenance on the gardener's, not the garden's terms! 

My Mum has MS and uses a scooter. She loves gardening and used to look after our walled garden at home. Are there any gardens you would recommend suitable for us to visit in Leinster? I was looking at June and Jimi Blake's gardens however they are on gravel and have a hill. She would need hard or light gravel paths and no steep hills.