e-mail Jane Owen with your gardening questions: jane.owen1@timesonline.co.uk

Why oh why will my wonderful wistaria not flower? It is approximately eight years old but has been moved twice, the last time being three years ago. Some people say to prune them, but I do not know where to prune or what to look for, and yet we see many that are never pruned but are absolutely covered in bloom. I waited with baited breath this spring but nothing. HELP. Janet Clarke

How can I say this tactfully? Wistarias have roots, not wheels. They need to feel like plants rather than mobile displays units. This means they need to be left in one place, preferably on a sunny, fertile site. Having said that, the main problem with yours is probably lack of pruning. People who claim they do not prune their abundant wistarias are either fibbing or they are about to be in for a shock as their plants gradually give up flowering precisely because they have not been pruned. Wistarias need to be pruned twice a year – just follow the instructions on this Royal Horticultural Society website www.rhs.org.uk

Jane, I see you are running the talks at Chelsea. I am particularly interested in the talk by Charles Jencks – how do I get to it? A friend says she is going, but I cannot find it on the RHS website. May Williamson, York

The talks are a first for the Chelsea Flower Show, and I am indeed running them along with James Alexander-Sinclair (www.blackpitts.co.uk/ ). The Jencks talk is invitation only. Much as I like and admire Charles Jencks, his talks can leave me in need of a brain massage and so, if you haven’t been invited, don’t worry too much – just come to another of the brilliant talks on offer. www.rhs.org.uk

Dear Jane, I have some wild orange and yellow poppies growing in the garden that produce many seeds during the summer. Are the seeds produced by these plants edible? Regards, Ruth Bugeja

Don’t risk it unless you are completely certain which poppy this is. For instance, Californian poppy or Eschscholzia californicais (I am so glad I am writing rather than saying that name) are not known to be poisonous but come from a family that includes many poisonous plants. Opium poppy (mostly purple) or Papaver somniferum also has many poisonous relations, although in this country its seeds are sometimes used in bread.

Dear Jane, I’ve bought a new water butt to conserve rainwater (what rainwater!), but I am not sure how to fit it to our cast iron drainpipes. Do you know of any fittings that will be suitable? Susie Spragg

Plenty - but they will depend on your downpipes and water butt. The good news is that plastic ‘push together’ pipes, which are now commonplace, are easy to use and come with all kinds of connections and in all kinds of shapes to make this kind of job straight-forward. Are you certain that your butt supplier doesn’t offer some connectors? May be worth checking. Failing that, go to your local plumbers’ merchant with a picture of your butt and downpipes and ask them to help you pick out the correct fittings. Finally, remember to place your butt on some kind of stand that is high enough to make it easy for you to get a watering can under the tap.

We currently have two huge Leylandii around two metres high and trimmed to giant box hedge size in our front garden. We hate the things and want to replace them with something more wildlife-friendly and less light-blocking, although we do need the replacement to act as a privacy barrier, as we have a school bus stop outside our house. The road is not too busy, as it is a farm lane, and the surrounding area is largely planted with cherry orchards. Our front garden is cottage-style with lots of rambling planting with a mixture of shrubs and flowering plants. We also have a shaded woodland area.The front of the house faces North/East with a South-facing rear garden. Can you suggest something that will grow quickly, is ideally non-deciduous and will give us a height of around two metres? In addition, I need to know what to use to kill off the Leylandii trunks once they have been cut down. Finally, when should I cut down and plant the new replacement? Janina Diggins

Rather than using a chemical to kill off the trunk, can you persuade your local farmer to hook up his tractor to each of the stumps and pull them out? It will make replanting much easier.The ripping out can be done as soon as you like. I’d leave planting til the autumn given that the forecasters are predicting a hot summer. The soil will be worn out and will need plenty of compost and rotted manure – and it’s worth getting started on that right away. Wildlife-friendly options are mostly deciduous – like all the various thorns from hawthorn to blackthorn. If you combined those with late Dutch honeysuckle, which usually hangs onto its leaves through winter, you’ll have a pretty, cottage-y display. Privet makes a better hedge in terms of privacy. It’s fast-growing and usually behaves like an evergreen. Griselinia will make a lovely pale green evergreen backdrop to your garden if you are in a mild area. My vote would go to yew, and before you throw up your hands and say it is slow growing, believe me, it will grow a metre a year if it is well planted into good soil. It is the perfect plant for privacy and for cottage gardens, and you will be able to carve it into all kinds of interesting shapes.

Hi Jane, I have bought a self-fertile version (which was little more than a bare steam) which I have planted in a London garden against a trellis that gets full sun from early afternoon. It has settled in okay and is looking healthy, with four or five nice green leaves. The problem is that I have looked in my organic gardening books and can find little info about feed and other care. For example, how do I prune this thing and when? When can I expect to get fruit from it? Tina Robinson

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