Does anyone know anything about gardening?

This is how I’ve managed to contain our bindweed. I’ve semi boxed it in and just maintain it weekly.

It was spread out all to the left of the bank. I remember finding one core root that was about 4inch in diameter.

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How deeply rooted are fuschias? This one in our garden has gone a bit crazy so tempted to move it to a corner next year.

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Not very. Just dig as wide as practical. Idk when is best to move but I moved 3 at a random time. One has flourished and is back to where it was (I only moved that 1m, but they were all left in a trug for a couple of months while the hard landscaping was done - to give an idea of root ball. Unfortunately for the other two I chose spots that get waterlogged in winter, so one died and one is tiny.

They're a good plant for a corner.

Oh also don't plant it too deep. I think that's another thing I got wrong.

We have a medium size cherry tree in our garden that is clearly in poor health. Clearly used to have a split trunk, but one was chopped back and so is just a stump now.

We moved in winter when everything is dormant, but even then the stump is clearly covered in a horrible looking white substance, looks a little like mould.

Then in spring the tree had some but not very much blossom that all dropped quickly, and now has very few leaves and has not fruited. The white stuff has now spread to cover all the plants within approximately 50 cm of it.

Anyone have any experience diagnosing and resolving the issue?

It's not in the best spot for a tree - hard up against a wooden fence - so am thinking about whether it's best to just totally get rid of it and plant another tree I like better elsewhere.

Cherries are pretty sensitive, so if it's not happy it'll almost certainly die. Don't feel bad about scrapping it.

Another grasshopper

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Does anyone have a specific reco for a fertiliser to turn hydrangeas blue?

Gone with Vitax Hydrangea Colourant. Will report back.

Before

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As hugo7 said, remove and start with a new tree. Worth id'ing the issue/disease as it might rule out trying other stone fruits or so you can then choose something that won't be similarly affected.

P.s. possibly this https://www.rhs.org.uk/disease/powdery-mildews

Sounds doable. I'll need to give it a hefty prune too so need to look into when to do that.

Didn't expect it to go so big, it's a bit of a difference to when we planted it a year ago ...

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Cheers @hugo7 and @rhb. I think I'll get someone in during the winter to prune the bigger trees and get rid of the cherry. A bad case of powdery mildew seems to be exactly what it is. Lack of airflow is almost certainly a part of the puzzle, so I don't think I'll put another tree in the same spot. I'll replace with a ginkgo tree elsewhere in the garden.

More crazy paving has the wall at a nice height, and now the tiles are placed and filled as planter behind

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Any reccos for bamboo alternatives? Basically bamboo would fill the exact niche we need but it’s boring. Probably 80-90% shade, mollusc paradise, want something with height all year round. Not much space for roots as it’s a wall cavity planter type affair.
Would accept suggestions for climbers as it’s against a wooden fence.

Trachelospermum jasminoides? It's evergreen with fragrance. Needs to be able to grab onto something.

Japanese quince? Not evergreen, thorny but pretty. Also needs training and will go a bit messy if you don't shape it.

Pyracantha or berberis. More thorns but quite pretty. Pyracantha will have flowers and loads of colourful berries

Japanese quince. I need to tidy this up but was letting it get established after taking it out of the front garden and potting it up.

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Pyracantha which I'm trying to train into horizontal lines. It's been in about a year

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ginkgo tree

Why? Cherry tree will give you cherries (assuming you beat the pigeons and the squirrels to them), a ginkgo will just make your garden smell awful for a few months every year.

Japanese quince

Is a good shout if you prune it neatly in a sort of Japanese style it's quite stylish and gives you very early flowers on the bare stems.

Here's my WIP and sort of medium term target. Just haven't got round to properly inspecting the base to see if anything can be split off into another plant before I prune

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Don’t forget ericaceous compost. It’s a must.

I like the leaves and the colour they turn in autumn.

Smell is news to me. I'll do some research in case it changes my mind...

Thanks for not-bamboo ideas – it’s quite near a big pyracantha, and opposite a normal jasmine, so probably not those. And I’d rather find something that doesn’t need much training because I barely have time to do weeding let alone any of the good stuff.
Maybe I need to embrace bamboo?!

Never embrace bamboo, horrible pain in the arse stuff

Never embrace bamboo

This.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/jun/11/big-british-bamboo-crisis-invaded-my-beautiful-home

Bamboo is the next Japanese knotweed.

Invasive, hard to kill and spreads like wildfire