Does anyone know anything about gardening?

Oh, as in it may be a cousin?

Well if it's the rootstock that's growing shoots, it could be anything but it probably isn't anything very special.

Pretty chuffed with this crabapple (maybe a Perfect Purple?). We planted last year as an unlabelled, straggly half price bargain from the posh garden centre. We loved the dark red bark and it only came home as I convinced my wife it was definitely a cherry tree.
Also it’s official that Euphorbia are the ultimate plant for our shallow chalky soil.

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^ lovely.

I have one I hate so I leave it in the soil but it always comes back. If it rises again this year I'll post pics

Is this tree (the evergreen behind the pond) dead or dying? I worry it is - what could i replace it with that will have a similar profile? It does a really good job of breaking up the garden and blocks some stuff behind so don’t really want to see it go, but not sure how much choice we have…

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That is kind thank you, but we're not in London so probably rules that out.

In terms of cutting - it'll be mostly lawn grass but along our frontage and round by our raised beds things get considerably more 'scrubby'. Not brambles but lots of nettles and other slightly more sturdy stuff.

Had another look and yep that's it!

Aubriata are supposed to dislike wet clay, I guess this one didn't read the user guide ;)

Might be the time to think about letting it go unless it is of real sentimental value. Can get some real nice roses, we have some where the flowers look like raspberry ripple.

Would dig a big hole and use new soil to avoid rose replant disease.

We have some of those too, Crazy Fashion, and Rock&Roll, both smell fantastic too.

😂

Your Euphorbia looks lovely! Are there 2 different types there? Your Peony looks well advanced for this time of year. No heads on your Alliums yet?

I've tried acidanthera for the last few years but even though the garden is south facing and I plant them in the sunniest part, only one or two bulbs out of twenty or more grow and none of them flower. Tried pots and in the ground - nada.

Does anyone know of a flower that looks similar to acidanthera but will be happy in a North London somewhat shady clay garden?

Acuba Japonica maybe? I know it's a totally basic plant but it's reliable, evergreen and makes a great backdrop.

https://shop.marwoodhillgarden.co.uk/product/paradisea-lucitanica/307?cp=true&sa=false&sbp=false&q=false&category_id=19

yeah, I'd say it's on the way out.

portugal laurel could work there - evergreen and gives a bit of interest over the year.

https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/14003/i-prunus-lusitanica-i/details

Two good suggestions, cheers @brokenbetty and @ChasnotRobert

New lawnmower ordered. When did lawnmowers get crazy expensive

What lawnmower did you order?

Pittosporum tenuifolium can make a great backdrop too and is unfussy, scent is amazing when it's in flower too.

Can you at least cut out the obviously dead bits and maybe ascertain what's killing them?

Free seeds:

https://www.seedparade.co.uk/index.php?fc=module&module=flashsalepro&controller=flashSaleProducts&flashSaleId=7

Can you at least cut out the obviously dead bits and maybe ascertain what's killing them?

I can prob do the former but not sure how to do the latter - what am I looking for?

Cheers for the plant suggestion as well!

If you don't mind losing the privacy it would let tons of light into your garden.

I'm no expert but if you take a close look at it you might be able to work it out, especially with a bit of googling.

If you can jiggle the whole plant about too easily, it might be suffering from root rock, where essentially it's too loose and the wind is stressing or breaking the roots. Solution would be to firm it in much more and maybe stake it if necessary.

If there's a tonne of weeds growing around the base, they might be outcompeting it for nutrients.

If it's obviously covered in fungus or insects of any kind, it's probably them that did it.

If it's sat in big puddle that doesn't drain properly, or super hard compacted soil, then that might be starving it of oxygen and you could try loosening the soil around the base and mixing in organic matter, sand and/or grit to relieve compaction and improve drainage.

It might also just be damage from drought last summer or severe cold this winter, in which case once you've cut those bits out it should be fine.

Letting the dead bits rot while still attached to the rest of it will weaken the whole thing, so definitely remove them if you are trying to save it.

Then give it a nice thick mulch of manure/compost/soil improver and see how it does?

Cheers. Just picked some up.