You must have done the basket culture for flowering annuals,which is normally done using hanging baskets. But there is another way of doing it by growing them in large fruit baskets (as in the picture above). The biggest advantage with the latter is that one could shift them wherever one wants them to be,even indoors when they are flowering. Plus,the changed spot will also lend your garden some amount of dynamism. Herea a word of caution: do not leave the baskets at one place in the lawn as the grass beneath will become yellow. Before the flowering starts,you could also keep these baskets on the rooftop so that there is adequate exposure to the sun,which is a pre-requisite for the winter annuals to get best results out of them. There is gum oozing out of the main trunk of my peach tree. What should I do? Sarabjit Singh,Mohali Remove the gum with the help of a sharp knife along with some black tissues. Keep removing the skin till the white tissue appears. Smear the cut with blitox slurry by mixing a few drops of water in blitox powder. I want to plant a litchi tree at the end of the driveway in my house,at the spot where I have left some gap in the floor. When should I do it? Rakesh,Chandigarh Space left in the floor is not the right place to plant a litchi tree. It may grow normally for the first few years,but when the time for fruit will come,the plant may start drying as the roots wont get the space,air and nutrition that it requires. It is,therefore,not advisable to plant litchi at such a spot. Please tell me about some plum varieties that I can plant in my garden. I have space for two plants. Surekha,Chandigarh You will have to plant one plant each of Satluj Purple and Kala Amritsari. The latter is a polliniser and a must for the fruiting of Satluj Purple. I am very fond of mulberry. Which variety of mulberry do you recommend and from where can I get it? Sabir,Panchkula There is no recommended variety of mulberry and you can make a cutting out of a good quality fruit tree from some source. This is the proper time to do it. For gardening queries,ASK DR GREEN at satishnarula@yahoo.co.in
