health and fitness: Ask Alys: our howeas have given up after our neighbour put up a fence

vendredi 25 mars 2016

Ask Alys: our howeas have given up after our neighbour put up a fence

I’d give up, too, if I was forced to live in a bed with a bamboo, euphorbia and a cordyline

Our neighbour on the west side has removed a line of tall leylandii and erected a fence. The soil is very shallow: bamboo, a cordyline and euphorbias survive, but some dark green, spiky things – possibly howeas – have given up. What can we do?
I’d give up, too, if I was forced to live in a bed with a bamboo, euphorbia and a cordyline, in no depth of soil with a leylandii peering in. Poor spiky things, whatever they were.

It’s good that the other plants are doing well. Your best option is to add a good dose of organic matter to improve the soil. The cheapest option is homemade organic compost, but recycled green waste compost (most councils offer this) is a cheap alternative, or buy peat-free compost and load it on. The euphorbias and cordyline will resent it if you bury their stems: draw back the compost from around their bases to make a well. I’d suggest adding more cordylines and euphorbias if you have gaps, because you know these will survive.