Ask Gerry

Any idea why my April/May blooming magnolia has gone into full bloom in August.

This is a most beautiful Camellia that has been planted in my garden for over three years. It is in a sunny south west facing spot. It has grown nicely since being planted and its foliage is glossy and healthy. The only problem is...is has never flowered. The label (long since gone) showed a red flower but I cannot recollect its name. Its foliage alone warrants it its spot in the garden but I really want to see it flower. Should I move it or is there something I can feed it that might encourage flowering?

Is it safe to put farmyard manure around heathers ?

Repotted in large terracotta planter after purchase last year, using John Innes 3 medium. Should it be fertilized and when? What type fertilizer & amount?

Bamboo trouble. I bought two pots of bamboo at Woodley, it seems to be fading fast. I water it and fertilise it. Leaves turning brown... is it that I need bigger pots .

A few years ago I set Photinia Red Robin and Pink Marble hedge mix of 2:1 respectively. Unbeknownst to me, the Red Robin is a quicker grower and has crowded out the Pink Marble and as a result there are slight gaps where the Pink Marble is.Should I leave things as they are or should I replace the Pink Marble for Red Robin in the autumn? Is there anything you could suggest to help the current issue? Also, in your opinion which is the best fertilizer to use and when. (I used well-rotted horse mature spring 2014 and it seemed fine)

My wisteria grows beautifully and looks very heathy and green but very few flowers appear.it is on a south-facing wall on the back of the house.Any ideas what I can do?

My Azalea seems to be only hanging in there this year. Is there anything I can do to help it? Its planted in my garden, not in a pot. Before I planted it, I had lined to hold with compost.

Two years ago I damaged the bark on this tree in September, it bled badly and the leaves browned and dried up that autumn with no colour at all. The same seems to be happening this year, nothing like the normal colour display, very little flower on it this year and once again leaves drying and just going brown as in the photos. Any ideas of the problem? Many thanks Fran.

My Kilmarnock willow hasn't any catkins for the past few years. I have it about 10 years and it had catkins for a few years - nothing since. Also, should I prune it and if so,when? There's a lot of dead wood underneath.

I have two of the free Fuchsias from last year and am wondering what, if anything, I should do with them. They are in pots (about 8 inch ones) outside and are starting to put out new leaves. They look a bit straggly, so should I cut them back a bit, or hard, or just leave them? Also should I leave them in those pots or re-pot them or put them in the ground?

Last year I overfed (with liquid feed that was too strong) my viburnum davidii and I lost a lot of leaves and a lot of the remaining ones have turned black. It was a fairly mature shrub, there seems to be some fresh new growth on this year but around 3/4 of the plant is now bare. Will it ever recover?