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Ask The Horticulturist
Any Question About Plants, Gardens or Growing
I've been a horticulturist since 1989, and a gardener before that. Ask me any questions about how to grow something. There's a good chance I've grown it, or can find out the answer for you.
With all the knowledge I've accumulated in my years of gardening and growing for nurseries, working in the industry as long as I did, and since retiring, I should have the answers to your questions.
You might want to know how to prune a particular plant. Or what to do if all the leaves turn yellow on your geraniums. Or any other thing to do with growing plants and their problems.
Ask The Horticulturist anything, as long as it's to do with plantsYou may be able to tell from the picture above that I am slightly obsessed. I love propagating plants from seeds, cuttings, layering, whatever. If I can prune them or train them up a trellis, that's even better.
As I can't get outside in the winter months, my indoor plants become my focus.
Once springtime arrives, watch out! Nothing will prevent me from getting outside into the garden. You'll often find me poking around among the plants, looking for bugs, then wondering if they are beneficial or not.
If you are similarly afflicted, we should talk!
My neighbor Roy asked me why his linden tree (Tilia cordata) was losing so many of the weird winged samaras.
I looked at a few, and they showed little to no sign of seed formation, just the dead flowers. I told him that a distinct possibility was the lack of bees to pollinate them, and he said hmm, you might be right, there are very few bees.
Tilia cordata, linden, flowersThe other problem that isn't so obvious is storm damage to the tree. It sustained a huge loss of about one third of the canopy, when a giant middle branch tore loose during Hurricane Fiona.
This could stress a tree greatly, leading to the common result of it trying to procreate, therefore making many more flowers than the bees could pollinate.
A close up view of Tilia cordate flowers, shed in huge numbersThe fact that so many were shed is a visible reflection of how many usually form into seeds.
So just keep in mind all the external forces in your garden. Plant some flowers to attract pollinators, and hopefully we can turn this around and give the bees a reason to visit.
If you have a question for me, ask in the box below - please do add a picture or two to help me understand what you are asking (and for the algorithm). More detail is better than less.
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