I had one of these, which I kept potted, for a couple of years but it was not very cold resistant. Can't remember exactly at what temp but it turned to mush at just a few degees below freezing. Very pretty plant. It's not a cultivar of Yucca aloifolia which others have commented on as being 'very sp...

My advice is simple, just blast off the fungus with a jet of water from a hosepipe. Seeing as it's very mild at the moment, now would be a good time to do it. I had a similar fungal growth on one of my tree ferns a while back, not to such an extent though, and after blasting off with water it never ...

Well I'm pleased to say that mine came through last winter totally unscathed, making that a total of two winters it's now come through. During those bitter easterlies, I staked down an empty compost bag over it. It was a small plant when I put it in and it's still only small but looking really healt...

I only have experience of growing two different banana species outside here in my exposed lancs garden. These are Musa basjoo and Musa sikkimensis Red Tiger. Of the two. the M.sikkimensis has decidedly more robust leaves than the far more familiar M.basjoo. As a consequence, they don't tear so easil...

I get up to 3 grey squirrels here at a time. I usually wait for one to get up to the feeder and then as quietly as possible I let the dog out. :DD Like a rocket he speeds across the garden before I'm shouting at him to stop cos he'd definitely catch one otherwise. I don't want him to hurt or even ki...

I've had some success in the past by feeding them with a liquid lawn fertiliser ie a high nitrogen feed.

It's certainly not guaranteed to work though.

Mine was stalling like everyone else's until I poured warm water into the crown a couple of days ago.

This seemed to get it going or perhaps it was going to move anyway.

To get A female Trachycarpus to set seed you need a male one for its pollen.

Trachies and chamaerops do not hybridise.

Julia, I've only just come across this thread which is over a month old but I thought you might need to know what I've just read about Ivermectin in the VetUK website. It says specifically DO NOT USE on tortoises and related species. :ahhh!: You may well know this already of course from one of the t...

There are many who do not beleive it possible to achieve a cross between Trachycarpus species which have different seed shapes. Martianus seeds are oval in shape whereas fortunei ones are kidney shaped. :><: If this palm is the result of a genuine cross then this is a remarkable achievement and the ...

Trachycarpus takil is very closely related to T. oreophilus and T. ukhrulensis (manipur). It's only very recently that seeds or seedlings of the genuine thing have become available. Suppliers of supposed kalamuni takils were selling what in fact were Trachycarpus fortunei Nainitals before that time....

The cycad in question is an Encephalartos natalensis seedling. I acquired it as a germinated seed maybe three years ago and as can be seen it's a picture of health. However, the shots reveal that it's thick root is pushing gradually out of its compost with small, dried-up side roots attached. This h...

My two were planted out something like 10 years ago. The large, blue flowered one is a Marksandspenceris and has never received any winter protection. It's essentially herbaceous, all leaves dying back to ground level. The smaller, white flowered one keeps its leaves throughout the winter. As a resu...

I'm absolutely gutted for you Stephen but at least you now know what's causing the problem. Honey fungus is one of the most dreaded problems a gardener can face particularly as there's no chemical control for it at present. You'll find it very difficult to give up on growing exotics completely and a...

Wood pigeons are regular visitors to my garden and to be honest I find they are no problem. What's amazing is how their numbers in back gardens have rocketed in recent years. They used to be really shy but now not so when it comes to our resident birds. Ones of Scandinavian origin which flock over h...