Mark McNee

Category: Garden Myths

  • Garden Myths: Number 4

    You can get grass to grow well in the shade. No you can’t. Grass will put up with a lot; how any plants will put up with being regularly cut down and walked all over? Like everything it has its limits and it is never happy in shade, needing full sun to do well. What…

  • Garden Myths: Number 3

    Garden ponds need a filter. Properly designed and planted a garden pond does not need a filter. Long ago when I was a child we had a garden pond, along with many other people of course, but no one had a filter on them. This was for a good reason; they didn’t exist for garden…

  • Garden Myths: Number 2

    Parsley seed must be soaked before you sow it. Some plants seem to attract myth and superstition and parsley is one. The truth is parsley is slow to germinate and gardeners can be impatient, so people have looked to ways to speed things up. To this end it is often said you need to soak…

  • Garden Myths: Number 1

    You must water Rhododendrons, Azaleas and Camellias with rainwater. I’ve heard this many times in hard water areas, based no doubt on the fact hard water contains lime and lime is used to reduce the acidity of soils and composts. While it is true Rhododendrons and other ericaceous need acidic growing conditions the amount of…