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August FAQs

FAQ of the month of August, garden questions

Here are the garden questions of Internet users for the month of August; and my answers, which can be amended, supplemented, contradicted… gardening is not an exact science.

Semi-shade

Yes ! Next question?

I was joking. The question of partial shade comes up often because this denomination is subject to discussion. Is partial shade synonymous with veiled sun, subdued light as in an undergrowth, or is it full sun but only for part of the day? I tend to say both. Partial shade is partial sun, soft sun that does not burn. Whatever the region, we avoid putting plants in partial shade where the sun is beating between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. Especially in the south.

We must also see how a plant reacts in partial shade when it is in full light. The Aucuba takes brown spots on the foliage as long as the purple hazel turns green, but without affecting its survival.

In conclusion, and assuming that your Acer is a Japanese maple, if you are not in a super hot region, you can install it with morning sun. Nevertheless, follow up with watering and spraying if necessary, the Japanese maple likes fresh soil but without excess. And also acid soils. Other information by reading the superb article I wrote on the Botanic site…

Ribes odoratum

The fruits of this splendid yellow Ribes with the exquisite smell of honey, has small fruits, like blackcurrants, black but very soft and sweet. article and photos of the flowers here

Roses rootstock

The problem may not be with the rootstock. Rose bushes are grafted onto rootstocks which have their advantages and disadvantages. Apart from roses sold in flowering pots, very often grafted on Rosa multiflora, which is not well suited to limestone and cold, the other rootstocks are successful in your region (which is also mine!). My preference would go to Rosa Laxa. More information by clicking here

But you are talking about sandy soil, which is not at all the ideal soil for roses which much prefer slightly heavy soils. The rosebush is a big greedy and the sandy soils are poor and do not retain water. We may need to change the way we maintain them; more compost, natural organic rose fertilizer in season and close monitoring of watering.

Mulberry pruning

The best pruning is done at the end of winter when the frosts are no longer to be feared, during the month of March, before the resumption of vegetation. for pruning techniques you will find what not to do here and what to do here

Anyway, we always prune these poor trees too much! there is no super market car park where there is shade!!! Yet the mulberry trees are present. Pruning the mulberry tree is more cultural than cultural...

Smell of Photinia

Pretty little shrub for a small hedge of 2 m, with redder leaves, more glossy than the type. Nothing is specified about the smell of the flowers but I guess it smells like the others. I think it really stinks! But you can love…or cut the flowers. my mood post on the matter here

Neiroun of the olive tree

Article on the neiroun of the olive tree here

For those who don't know, the neiroun is a crap! Because there is no other way than to cut down the affected tree and burn it. To answer your question, several possibilities but no certainty about the future of the tree. Either you cut it even lower, or you take a wire and you try to kill the neirouns present in the galleries. Add compost or natural organic fertilizer for trees to help the olive tree and next spring will tell us what it is...

Indian lilac

August FAQs

And I guess you want to know what to do? Indian lilac, Lagerstroemia indica, fears powdery mildew. It is a fungus that plagues leaves and flowers. It is therefore necessary to spray a product against powdery mildew. Wettable sulfur is effective if the disease has not spread too much. Otherwise, unfortunately, it will be necessary to cut the flowers which will not open anyway. In case it really is rot, another fungus, size is everything. This, quite rare all the same, is due to too much humidity, over the long term; when we have rotten summers full of rain…

Sandy terrain

Yes ! well, it takes patience and a little elbow grease. You can never totally change the nature of a terrain, the latter coming back at a gallop. Nevertheless, by regular additions of organic matter, the lack of water retention can be corrected. Organic matter acts like a sponge. What organic matter? start with the one that costs you the least (straw, dry grass, twig, pruning wood, etc.). Compost is ideal! You have to put in the dose, almost two wheelbarrows for 10 m²! oh yeah, that's quite a volume. But we put the compost on the ground and we buried it lightly with the claw (croc) on the first 10 cm. Year after year things are improving. As I said, patience…

Wild mint

Well, heuu, how to say… We can't! Let's go back to some basics. Plants grow where the terrain suits them. This is how we get clues about the type of soil, just by watching the plants grow. But plants modify the soil by their presence and from year to year the soil changes, and so do the plant varieties. Mint indicates moist, trampled, packed soil (perhaps grazing land). Apart from drying the ground and loosening it, you will live with mint for a long time. But things change, it takes a lot of patience. Now it's a natural meadow... Take advantage of the mint to make herbal teas or syrup, and think of me who has a lot of trouble bringing it into my garden!

Leaning mulberry

And if you tell me about it, it must bother you... You don't tell me the age of the tree or the plantation. So let's start from the hypothesis that the tree is young and the plantation the same and that it is the trunk that is leaning, not the branches. Tutoring would be welcome. Put a stake in the ground at an angle and fix the tree to the stake to straighten it. If it is also the branches that grow more on one side than the other, it is either because of the wind, or because an obstacle prevents them from growing straight (another tree, house, electric pole, etc.)

Dendrobium

Nothing can be done about it. If you were thinking of propagation like cuttings, the Dendrobium multiplies by division of a clump. In any case, it is a very beautiful orchid!

Whiteflies and tomatoes

You can try black soap sprays every other day, alternated with fern manure sprays but frankly, when the whiteflies are there, it's really hard to get rid of them! Whiteflies in the greenhouse are a nuisance. I advise you especially at the end of the season to disinfect everything, plastic, tarpaulin, stakes, pots…. and get rid of the soil. There are eggs everywhere… If you find a trick, I'm interested. When you work in greenhouses, you really have to be in prophylaxis, that is to say in prevention. Good luck.

Giant wild thyme

Well, without seeing the plant, I have a hard time answering you… The wild thyme can reach 30 cm. Perhaps for lack of light, it would be higher… Unfortunately, I cannot tell you more. More information on thyme and wild thyme here

August FAQs