Postbag Edition: Mary Berry's House

Q1 – My town garden is at its best in June and July, but my goddaughter wants her wedding reception here on August 31st… what can I grow or add to make the garden look wonderful that late in the season? (03’40”)

Mary Berry

• Laurus nobilis, bay tree - with Erigeron karvinskianus, Mexican fleabane as underplanting

Bunny Guinness

• Lilium spp., lilies

• Cosmos spp., cosmos

• Salvia spp., salvias

• Lathyrus odoratus, sweet pea

Matthew Pottage

• Cleome hassleriana, ’Violet Queen’ spider flower

• Dahlia (single‑flower forms)

• Thunbergia alata, black‑eyed Susan vine (modern cultivars in softer colours)

Christine Walkden

• Galtonia spp., summer hyacinths

• Gladiolus spp., gladioli

• Watsonia spp., watsonias

Q2 – Several of my roses have become evergreen in recent years… one climber keeps all its leaves and gets black spot. Should I just spray, or what should I do when the leaves don’t fall off anymore. (07’48”)

Mary Berry

• Rosa ‘Chandos Beauty’, rose [Chandos Beauty]

Matthew Pottage

• Rosa banksiae ‘Lutea’, double yellow Banksian rose

(Other advice focused on pruning, spacing, and hygiene)

Q3 – One side of my small garden grows clematis beautifully, but the shadier, more acidic side keeps killing them. Should I lime the soil, use mushroom compost, or just give up? (11’37”)

Matthew pottage

· Variegated climbing hydrangea suggested - Hydrangeahydrangeoides, Japanese hydrangea vine

Q4 – I leave a patch of nettles for butterflies, but when can I cut them back without harming their caterpillars? (14’37” )

Q5 – Do I really need to wash all my plastic pots every year? It would save so much time and water if I stopped… (17’56”)

Q6 – I have a 1 × 1.5m raised bed in Copenhagen. What can I plant directly—no indoor sowing—to give me cut flowers throughout the year? (17’56”)

Bunny Guinness

• Convallaria majalis, lily of the valley

• Cosmos spp., cosmos

Matthew Pottage

• Nigella damascena, love‑in‑a‑mist

• Alstroemeria, Peruvian lily

• Alstroemeria Indian Summer ('Tesronto'PBR) (Summer Paradise - Summer Series), Peruvian lily [Indian summer]

Q7 – I’ve planted three bare‑root yews and want to shape them into low, 90cm domes. Should I wait for them to spread before cutting the tops, or prune now to make them bushier? (26’51”)

Bunny Guinness

• Taxus baccata 'Renke's Kleiner Grüner', yew 'Renke's Kleiner Grüner' (Renke's Little Green) 

Q8 – I grafted an apple 4–5 years ago and it’s now 1.2m tall in a pot. It’s never been pruned. Do I need to do formative pruning now, or is it too late? (32’37”)

• Malus domestica, apple

• Malus domestica ‘Bramley’s Seedling’, Bramley apple

Q9 – We need a low hedge at the front of our house, but we have deer, rabbits, pigeons - and honey fungus. Is there anything we can plant? (36’14”)

Matthew Pottage

• Osmanthus × burkwoodii, Burkwood osmanthus

• Osmanthus × fortune, Fortune's osmanthus

General caution

• Prunus laurocerasus, cherry laurel — mentioned only as a honey‑fungus‑susceptible plant to avoid

Q10 – “I have acquired a new allotment, and the bindweed is like macaroni. I won’t use chemicals or plastic - how can I weaken it? (37’53”)