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

Can I grow any salads outdoors now? By which I mean from seed? My garden is small, westerly and sheltered. Marianne Campbell, Hampstead Garden Suburb

Winter lettuce can be sown now and for the next few weeks and it’s available from plenty of sites like Nicky’s Nursery www.nickys-nursery.co.uk as well as the larger seed companies which have a wide variety of salad seed Dobies: www.dobies.co.uk; Suttons: www.suttons-seeds.co.uk; Marshalls www.marshalls-seeds.co.uk; Unwins www.unwins-mailorder.co.uk; The Organic Gardening Catalogue www.Organiccatalog.com; Thomson & Morgan www.thompson-morgan.com; and Mr Fothergill’s http://fothergills.co.uk/

Land cress is an excellent winter crop and it will survive everything except hard frost. The flavour is so strong it needs dressing or it can be made into a tasty cream soup. Mizuna is a fine dark green leaf which also has a strong flavour. You may have to start these seeds off on a window sill unless this balmy weather continues, Chinese Cabbage Ruffles, Chinese mustard and Pak Choi can all still be sown for winter eating. Even rocket, which grows best in builders rubble as far as I can make out, will give you a few meals if you sow now.

Is it realistic to plant fruit trees in my garden? It’s about 10 m square. Marvin Dunn, London

You can turn it into a cornucopia and this is the right moment to do your homework and order your fruit trees. Apple Day was on October 21 - this is when various fruit specialists give tastings and advice on apples and other fruit. It is worth making the effort to get to at least one Apple Day event so that you can find varieties you most like and get guidance on whether or not they will thrive in your relatively small space. Apple day events are listed on Common Ground’s website www.commonground.org.uk and your local listings pages may have more events in your area. If you have the time it’s worth getting down to Brogdale in Kent www.brogdale.org which has the national collection of various fruits plus a host of experts and Waterperry gardens www.waterperrygardens.co.uk on the London side of Oxford also has plenty of fruit and fruit experts.

I have found lily beetles living on my basil. Susie Harris, Dunstable

They are unlikely to be eating it but their unwelcome presence means you probably have a sizeable population of this pest devouring the remains or your lilies. Hunt them out and destroy them - or your lilies won’t stand a chance next year. I seem to have written about lily beetle ad infinitum but, if you need reminding, here is the latest, cutting-edge research on lily beetle and its control www.rhs.org.uk

Household tension currently caused by roller on lawn. Beloved husband says a roller is essential to a good lawn. I say the thing is an eyesore, rarely gets used and makes little or not difference to his ‘velvet sward’. Name and address withheld

Ah, men and their lawns, rollers, ride-ons and leaf blowers. This is a tricky area because it seems as closely related to a man’s feeling of equanimity as a woman’s is to her underwear. The roller itself can be put into a discreet corner – although some people find them pleasing to look at. In fact the process of rolling can kill leatherjackets and chafer grubs both of which can destroy lawn. So rolling has a useful horticultural function as well as proving a boost to your beloved’s ego.

My next door neighbour’s garden is completely overgrown. Brambles and bindweed from her garden are destroying the woven hazel hurdles which I erected to make more of a boundary than the existing chain link fence. I have asked her several times to clear the brambles etc and have explained the damage the plants are doing. What can I do?

Keep trying to persuade her to sort out the weed problem – it is so important to try to maintain reasonable relationships with your neighbours even when they are being unreasonable. Have you thought about offering to do the work yourself? You might like to have a look at the following two websites which have some useful guidance about this tricky area.

www.boundary-problems.co.uk

www.adviceguide.org.uk

The telegraph pole in my new garden is something I have to accept but the bright yellow plastic sheath around the supporting wire is a terrible eyesore – worse than the pole. Suggestions please. Name and address withheld

Sadly I cannot recommend what I did in a similar situation because it was illegal. I spray painted the plastic bit which was the property of a utility company. Luckily I my crime was not discovered. You had better grow a large evergreen shrub in front of the ghastly thing.

Can any roses grow on a north wall? It is pretty open so not as dark as you might think. James Blacker, Chichester

The great rose expert David Austin www.davidaustinroses.com has a list of roses that will grow on your wall. I would add the following: the vivid pink, highly scented Zephirine Drouhin. Heaven on a shaded stalk.

We are new to gardening and have just got our first garden. Next year I would like to have it looking good so we can do some entertaining in it. We like scented and colourful plants but a quick tour round some garden centres makes it look like we can’t afford many plants. But we are not sure about growing from seed unless it is very, very simple. Also we do not have a greenhouse or much space in the house. Sasha Warburton, Peterborough

Try planting out plugs – tiny plants - which can be bought from many seed companies including Mr Fothergill’s fothergills.co.uk. You may also want to have a look round your local market. Traders sometimes sell large trays of plants – everything from perennials to shrubs and annuals – for very little money.

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

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