Landscape designer Tony Murrell joins Jesse Mulligan to answer gardening questions from RNZ listeners.
Limes with Verrucosis, aka Citrus Scab Photo: Public domain
My lemon and lime tree have bad Verrucosis of the fruit and leaves
It’s all about what comes up from the ground into your citrus plant, that varicose that you get makes the skin a little tough, sometimes makes it a bit sick but it doesn’t impair the fruit taste.
Don’t be too concerned about it if you can live with it, accept it’s just nature.
Otherwise, fortify the plant and keep the roots cool in summer with a decent amount of water while it’s setting its fruit up, making sure the tree is nice and open and it’s got a good habitat and a little bit of compost from time to time.
I’ve got Japanese knotweed, what should I do?
You shouldn’t cut it, treat it or try and remove it yourself. There is an 0800 number you should call if you identify you have this plant - 0800 800 401.
Once you’ve got it, it is hugely invasive, with masses of perennial white flowers December though till March. It is not a good plant. It’s one you definitely want to eradicate from your garden.
Denise planted a Back Boy peach tree 2 years ago but it has had no fruit
Maybe the flowers blew off. It wants to be in a sheltered position, not too much water.
I would look at the location more than anything else. Or buy a new tree!
My lavender looks nearly dead especially after it rains tips on how and when to prune?
Lavender loves poor soil, full sun, drought it doesn’t mind, sea air, it loves - it’s one of those plants that thrives on neglect.
I would never, ever feed lavender anything and I prune lavender up to four times during its flowering season.
To keep form and shape, let it flower, enjoy the flowers for a few weeks and shape it over. Otherwise, it becomes woody.
I'm struggling to get on top of my whitefly in my glasshouse and vege garden
Look at airflow, if there’s not a lot try and increase it in the greenhouse and maybe ease up on the watering too.
Look for plants that are looking diseased and remove them/
It’s all about the airflow. Remove diseased plants, don’t overwater and fortify your plants from the spoil up.
How hard can you prune back a 20-year-old plum tree?
You’ll be surprised how far you can bring it down. You don’t want the fruit making its way to the sky because you want to harvest those fruits lower down.
As soon as they’ve finished fruiting, normally in summer, that’s when you prune them, and you can bring them down to a height that is manageable to you.
You’ll get lots of new growth coming to it and whatever your picking height is, either from a small orchard ladder or from the ground, that is your height.
Tony Murrell is a landscape designer with 30 years experience and likes to travel the world to get inspiration for outdoor spaces in Aotearoa.
