Your garden: Q&A

I'D like to grow autumn- flowering gentians. Are they difficult? - Peter Hughes, Stockport.

COOL humus-rich soil and plenty of light are the keys to success with this lovely alpine plant. Gentiana septemfida, which is one of the easiest to grow, earliest to flower and suitable for growing on limy soil, will put up with dry conditions in the summer.

I HAVE bought a new house by the sea and think a hedge would give my plants some protection from the wind.What sort do you recommend? - Bill Turner, Poole, Dorset.

SEASIDE loving hedge plants include escallonia, Griselinia littoralis and sea buckthorne or Hippophae rhamnoides, which has silver leaves and orange berries.

WE want to continue a white border theme we created in the summer through into winter. Any ideas?- Jane Burton, Halifax.

FOR striking white stems you can't beat silver birch. The best one is Betula jacquemontii - look out for the select form called Jermyns. The rubus family also has some lovely white- stemmed plants but can be quite invasive.

WHAT container plants will give me instant colour and continue to provide interest in winter? - Marie Howarth, Bath.

PLANT a standard or bay tree in the centre of a large terracotta pot and fill the pot with white ornamental cabbage or winter pansies.

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