Telegraph

Thorny problems: I had a little fig tree, nothing would it bear... (Filed: 10/11/2001)

Helen Yemm on pyracanthas, pinks and canna lillies

Fig failure

I have a thriving, two-year-old fig tree in an unheated greenhouse. It produces masses of fruit but, alas, it all drops off before it ripens. What I am doing wrong? G L Barton, Little Eaton, Derby

It sounds as if your fig tree may have been short of water at a critical time. Or you may have pruned off the shoots that would have carried August-ripening figs. You are not the only reader to have problems getting a crop of figs, so I shall outline how figs work.

They are best grown under glass, except in the South and West of Britain. Outside, the varieties 'Brown Turkey' and 'White Marseilles' are the most reliable. They do best against south- or west-facing walls, against which growers like to fan-train them. To make figs produce more fruit and less leaf, it is essential to limit their root space. They are happy, therefore, in containers, or between buildings and paths.

Figs crop twice in this country, but only one crop ripens. At this time of year, most of the walnut-sized fruit - the secondary crop, in the leaf axils of young shoots - will have dropped off, along with the leaves. What remains are next year's little, pointed leaf buds and minuscule round "embryo" fruits. If these survive the frost - fan-training is a precaution against this - they will be the fruits that ripen at the end of next summer.

Details on fan-training and pruning of figs can be found in the RHS book Pruning, by Christopher Brickell (Mitchell Beazley, £8.99). It is essential not to set about a fig tree with the secateurs at this time of year. The tree can be thinned in March, when you can see where the young fruit is developing.

Shrub swap

RJ Angus, from Highgate, north London, wants to replace a dead, 14ft pyracantha - one of a trio that has stood guard for 37 years at the back of his house. Tendercare Nursery in Denham, near London, specialises in supplying mature trees and shrubs (01895 835544).

Small is beautiful

Another Londoner, Roxanne Stirling, wants to give some friends, who have an empty 40ft garden, a tree as a housewarming present, but doesn't know what to chose. My favourite small-garden tree is Amelanchier lamarckii. These have pretty, bronze new leaves in spring, light, white blossom, attractive fruits and stunning scarlet and orange autumn colour. As a solo tree, the amelanchier earns its keep.

Pretty pinks

Last summer, N Foden from Wotton-under-Edge, in Gloucestershire, bought some pinks (dianthus), which flowered wonderfully. Having fallen for their old-fashioned charms, he would like to know more about them.

Anyone who has sniffed a trio of pinks stuffed into a vase on a restaurant table and been transported by their magnificent scent should try to grow them. They need sharply drained, slightly alkaline (limy) soil in full sun at the front of a border. Even I have found them easy to propagate. Dianthus - Old Fashioned Pinks, by Mark Trenear, will tell all. It is produced by the National Council for the Conservation of Plants (01483 211465) and costs £4.50.

Tropical colour

The canna lilies, hemerocallis and gladioli I planted this year, along with palms and bamboo, to create a tropical bed have failed to flower. Am I being impatient? I have a damp, partly shaded garden and the soil is heavy loam. Gabrielle Ridgway, Woodbridge, Suffolk

Many gardeners are tempted to follow where Christopher Lloyd has lead - but remember that his exotic garden at Great Dixter in East Sussex, is hot, dry and sheltered. Much of the tender stuff is taken in for winter. As far as your plants are concerned, cannas and hemerocallis can take some moisture, but they take time to establish.

Cannas may need to be lifted and stored if your garden is frosty. If you leave them in situ, covered with fleece, beware of spring slug attacks. Gladioli are less happy in damp soil and may also need to be stored indoors.

You could add some reliable, exotically coloured perennials that need less mollycoddling and also lengthen the period of interest in your garden. Euphorbia 'Griffithii', with its bonze-red bracts, will cheer up the spring, and turns orange in autumn.

Verbena bonariensis, which has lofty, purple flowerheads, performs from mid-summer until the frosts. Some of the heleniums in vivid reds and bronzes, such as 'Moerheim Beauty' or 'Rotgold', flower late in the season.

Lighten the soil with horticultural grit or sand to improve drainage. You could also try plummy-leafed annual Ricinus impala, or biennial Angelica gigas from seed to add drama.

In shade, all plants grow taller and flower less. Is it possible for you to introduce more light? Often this is a question of some rigorous thinning of neighbouring trees.

Right refreshments

Veronica Hammond, from London, wants to know if there is anything to be gained by putting coffee grounds or tea leaves around her plants.

Yes - she is returning something to the soil that will rot down and add to the general biology. But if you ask me, unless you ingest far more caffeine than is good for you, it is a bit of a song over not very much.

Write to Thorny Problems at helenyemm1@aol.com or Gardening, The Daily Telegraph, 1 Canada Square, London E14 5DT. Helen can answer queries only through this column.

-- Anonymous, November 10, 2001