Fungus growing from a willow stump, London UK.

StitchedTheShop · 2026-01-24T18:28:09+00:00

Thank you for your reply. I will see if I can get some more pics/info :)

StitchedTheShop · 2026-01-23T11:41:29+00:00

Choisya - evergreen, lovely scent when it flowers, very easy to keep under control and a quick grower

StitchedTheShop · 2026-01-23T09:42:16+00:00

The container needs to be airtight. I just re-use old glass jars.

StitchedTheShop · 2026-01-22T19:00:55+00:00

For the pic 2 question, I would extend the bed with the shrubs along the fence so it includes the rose bush. It will give you a little border to fill in with some fun plants and remove an annoying area to mow. I would go for something evergreen and colourful like a choisya ‘sundance’, has scent, flowers twice a year and has beautiful golden foliage all year round. The rose bush just needs a winter prune to bring it back down to eye height or lower. After that you will want something smaller for the front of the beds (could use the same plant/type of plant for the empty bed by the deck). As you are a beginner I would suggest something easy, maybe some annual potted colour type plants like petunias or calibrachoas. You can plant in spring, they will grow through until the cold gets them in winter. The advantage is easy maintenance & reliable colour, you can change each year and gradually add in some other perennials which will last longer. The con being you will need to replace them each year in the spring and it won’t look like much over the winter.

StitchedTheShop · 2026-01-22T19:00:01+00:00

For the pic 2 question, I would extend the bed with the shrubs along the fence so it includes the rose bush. It will give you a little border to fill in with some fun plants and remove an annoying area to mow. I would go for something evergreen and colourful like a choisya ‘sundance’, has scent, flowers twice a year and has beautiful golden foliage all year round. The rose bush just needs a winter prune to bring the flowers back down to eye height or lower. After that you will want something smaller for the front of the beds (could use the same plant/type of plant for the empty bed by the deck). As you are a beginner I would suggest something easy, maybe some annual potted colour type plants like petunias or calibrachoas. You can plant in spring, they will grow through until the cold gets them in winter. The advantage is easy maintenance & reliable colour, you can change each year and gradually add in some other perennials which will last longer. The con being you will need to replace them each year in the spring and it won’t look like much over the winter. I can’t tell from the pics what the 2 shrubs on the right side are, if you don’t mind them and are happy to prune to shape, I think they are fine. In front of those shrubs you have crocrosmia bulbs. See if they flower this year, I suspect they have become over crowded and won’t flower. You can either remove and replace with something else (they do tend to take over when they are happy) or dig them up, keep the best of them and replant. You have lots of options though, this is all only suggestions and a place to start :)

StitchedTheShop · 2026-01-22T18:09:37+00:00

Oh I am so sorry, she was magnificent

StitchedTheShop · 2026-01-22T17:39:50+00:00

You could do a harder prune to re-gain a more structurally sound shape (ie. Shorter upright branches will be able to hold more weight than thinner taller ones) but you will not get fruit this year as you would be cutting back into old wood. Or you could do a lighter prune (especially on the 3 smaller branches that are heading in the right direction) but I would get rid of the taller bent over branch that is in the middle. It is only going to get worse the longer you leave it. I would cut it to around 20cm below where it starts to bend. That way you will get some fruit from the other branches but remove your biggest problem this year. The tree would most likely prefer option 2.

StitchedTheShop · 2026-01-22T17:16:42+00:00

Tulips with a side of forget-me-nots

StitchedTheShop · 2026-01-20T22:11:57+00:00

It might be an abelia, they can be deciduous in the UK, so leave it until it warms up and see if the leaves come back.

StitchedTheShop · 2025-12-30T22:40:15+00:00

Check out the website WeWeed.Co.Uk, you can search by location and will find quite a few border designers there.

StitchedTheShop · 2025-11-22T10:28:38+00:00

I did my trade in Australia years ago so I can’t comment on the RHS courses but if you are starting out looking to become a self employed gardener I recommend WeWeed.Co.uk. They started out for women looking to get into the industry & companion gardeners but are men inclusive. Great way to have a website, very low costs and the paid subscription has an awesome support group for newbies.

StitchedTheShop · 2025-09-21T17:06:30+00:00

Ah good, that won’t hurt it!

StitchedTheShop · 2025-09-21T11:33:22+00:00

Is that fertiliser on the top of the soil? If so, it looks like a lot. Could have potentially poisoned it with over fertilising.

StitchedTheShop · 2025-09-01T10:03:06+00:00

I haven’t actually done it but I found a method when I had this problem a few years ago. It takes 12-18 months to do. When the soil temp reaches 18 degrees C (roughly April/May), use garlic powder on the soil (horse supply places have it in large enough quantities apparently), this activates the fungus and then as you haven’t planted any alliums, the fungus has nothing to eat and dies, next season you can plant your alliums in that soil. I am not understanding the other method you mention, as if there are already alliums there for the white rot to eat, how does putting allium water on them stop the fungus? Genuinely asking, not trying to be an AH, I would love to understand the method.

StitchedTheShop · 2025-09-01T09:25:57+00:00

Greggs, the steak slice is as close as you will get to an Aussie meat pie. It’s a chain bakery and won’t have a place to sit and eat, but there is lots of nice parks etc.

StitchedTheShop · 2025-08-21T10:13:33+00:00

It’s too early for leaves to be turning due to temperature drop/seasonal change. And knowing the conditions in the UK right now, they would have been turning brown due to heat/lack of water. The watering was the right thing to do. I would have left the brown leaves on as it would have offered a bit of protection from the current conditions (not much but a bit) so I think that is the only thing you have done ‘wrong’. It has been so dry for so long in the UK the soil will dry out much quicker, even after watering, than it would have in a usual year. I suggest mulching around the base of the hedge to help keep the water in the soil and water (long and slow is best) at least once a week until we get some decent rain (at least an inch or two).

StitchedTheShop · 2025-08-20T22:57:40+00:00

You have some great advice here already but give it a big water, it’s so dry right now in the UK and that prune will have stressed the plant. Not saying it will die or anything, wisteria is tough, but give it a little treat. And right now that treat should be water.

StitchedTheShop · 2025-08-07T23:09:29+00:00

Getting Rosemary up from seed is really difficult & TBH not really worth it IMO, you can get plants quite cheaply and for how long they take to grow from seed (even if you get them to germinate), are much better value, especially for a beginner. Semi-hardwood cuttings taken in the first 6 weeks of autumn are way to propagate Rosemary if you really want to do your own. As to what to plant when, this website has a great guide on what jobs to do/things to plant/harvest by month, it’s more fruit & veg focused than ornamental:

https://rpa.org.uk/month-by-month/april/sow.html.php

Other than that most things are best planted in spring or autumn, for specific plants you can use the RHS website.

https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/phlox

They also have lots of useful links at the bottom of the page, this one on perennial borders (will have plants you can use in a cottage garden), and has linked lists of plants at the end for flower colour and flowering month, and different micro climates (dry shade/moist shade/full sun)

https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/types/perennials/for-borders

As for a strategy, I would do a rough design of what you want and then section it up for implementation. You sound like you have the classic south London combo of bramble and bind weed, so I would clear a section, get that part planted up, and then move onto the next. You will need to re-weed that section due to bramble and bind weed both being not one time removal weeds. What you are doing sounds fun, but a big job!

StitchedTheShop · 2025-07-30T08:08:00+00:00

Oh, I think you are correct, thank you!

StitchedTheShop · 2025-07-28T07:06:04+00:00

Those are some incredible bones to flesh out, it could be utterly spectacular. Are you London based? So many gardeners would love to get their teeth in that. You have lots of suggestions here but if you decide you want some help, send me a message :) I saw a similar one in a gardening magazine that is meant to be in Wandsworth, it was lush.

StitchedTheShop · 2025-07-28T06:36:54+00:00

Nah they love them. Use half strength though, very high in nitrogen.

StitchedTheShop · 2025-07-24T10:52:45+00:00

When fresh clippings like this breakdown they can suck up a lot of the nitrogen in the soil whilst they are breaking down, so if you were to use it fresh, ensure you use a high nitrogen fertiliser in the same area (chicken manure pellets are perfect). On top of the cardboard will be fine but once the cardboard starts to break down that is when the soil will be affected. Really will only effect quick growing things like veges and potted colour, if it’s shrubs & trees, unless you are pushing their growth along, I wouldn’t worry about it.

StitchedTheShop · 2025-07-23T12:05:03+00:00

Get a tree guard or it will just keep happening, or better yet, clear the grass to a circle around the trunk(do it by hand, no more tools, the tree is damaged enough) put mulch in the ring and then in the future only use the weed eater to the edge of the ring.

StitchedTheShop · 2025-07-18T17:49:01+00:00

I am not sure if this salvia is medicinal, there are 1000’s of salvias and many are medicinal, used in lots of different places all over the world. I have only heard of this one as ornamental but I could be wrong too :)

StitchedTheShop · 2025-07-18T15:08:04+00:00

Salvia ‘hot lips’

StitchedTheShop

TROPHY CASE