Ask Gerry

A small colony of ants have appeared all over the waste matter in my compost bin; are they a threat to the process or final compost?

About 3 to 4 years ago I planted Flame Creeper at the base of a Japonica shrub growing against a north facing wall. Thought it would give colour when the Japonica finished flowering. The creeper has now started to spread deep in the soil and I am afraid it is going to 'take over'. I think it may be on it's way into the neighbour's garden! If I have to lose the Japonica which is there years, so be it. Can you please tell me how I can kill it?

Could you please suggest a shrub for a large terracotta container on an elevated exposed site facing west close to the sea in the west of Ireland?

I have some calibrachoa planted in window boxes with good quality compost along with a bit of vermiculite, swell gel and slow release feeding. I have them planted up for about a month or more but have noticed where the leaves of some of them are turning yellow and wonder what could this be. They were planted up in the greenhouse and were taken outside about a week or so ago. Some of them don't seem to have been affected and have kept their good green leaf colour.

Some of the tulips I planted this year seem to be stunted and badly eaten-leaves and flowers. Some flowers are at ground level-some dont even seem to have leaves. Any advice?

Tops of some daffodils (three clumps) look burned or charred. They didnt flower this year and the tips of some of the leaves also appear 'burned'. Other daffs near them are unaffected but I am worried lest this 'burning' will spread.

I have noticed that something is eating my Daffodils before they have flowered, its looks like something just bit the top off the bud where the flower is, any idea what this might be?

I bought 2 big bags of daffodil bulbs last Autumn and planted them along the perimeter of my garden. I notice now that although most of the bulbs did produce foliage only a fraction of them have flowers. Apart from buying them cheaply what have I done wrong, and is there anything I can do now eg. feed/add fertiliser to hope they will flower next year.

Are tulips salt loving plant? I live in Galway and i can get seaweeds here as much i want, just i dont know can i use seaweeds for tulips?

Is Phyllostachys nigra a runner or clumper and what to do with it all brown leaves falling off?

When is the best time to take out the sweet william out of the pots to plant in the ground as this is their 2nd year in pots. the pots are outside my house in Sandymount?

Agapanthus in south facing bed didn't flower last year - should I put restrict their roots within the bed to encourage flowering?

want to have thin border round septic tank. thinking of bearded iris. in states the leaves remain year round. can u recommend any evergreen iris or another plant if iris not evergreen. want to cover atank edge about 2 ft high.

I bought 13 window boxes for the spring and im not sure what to fill them with.

Over the last 2 years, I've grown a lot of veg and summer bedding in containers and so have about 2 cubic metres of spent compost, made up of bought in proprietary peat based product and home made general stuff (grass, plant shreddings, green kitchen waste etc.). How best can I re-use this? Ideally, I would like to rejuvenate it in some way so that I can use it in this year's veg and summer plant containers. I don't have a lot of empty bed space to dig it in, as most of this is deeply mulched with bark.