Pots & Trowels The Gardening Podcast · Martin Fish, Jill Fish, Sean Riley

Liquid Amber Sucker Problem, Sad Sarcococca Plants Plus Mediterranean Plant Nursery

·30 min·2 clips

Sad Sarcococca needs moisture-retentive soil, mulch, and some of the Vinca Minor taken away.

1. Pots & Trowels Gardening Podcast focuses on a Lincolnshire nursery visit, two listener plant problems, and February garden jobs. 2. Martin, Jill, Sean, and Andrew from Tower Nurseries matter because Martin and Jill diagnose garden issues while Andrew explains nursery stock and climate-driven planting. 3. The episode asks how gardeners should choose and maintain plants when winters are wet, summers are hotter, and old garden habits no longer fit. 4. Andrew says Tower Nurseries is based at RAF Hemswell in Lincolnshire, beside a large antique centre and a historic water tower. 5. He explains that the nursery began in Nottinghamshire, then moved the greenhouses closer to customers and footfall. 6. Andrew describes a broad stocklist sourced from Holland and Italy, rather than a specialist range. 7. He names citrus, agaves, cordylines, slow-growing conifers, and alpines as plants suited to the changing climate. 8. Andrew says the nursery is open every day, seven days a week, and remains family run. 9. Martin recalls teaching Andrew at college in the 1980s and finding him again years later at the nursery. 10. Andrea Marie’s Sarcococca in the West Midlands is planted in partial shade beneath a crabapple and viburnum, with Vinca Minor beneath it. 11. Martin says the Sarcococca looks sparse because the periwinkle is taking water and nutrients before they reach the shrub. 12. He recommends lifting some Vinca Minor, improving the soil with compost, and mulching around the base. 13. Martin also suggests fertilizer and cutting back woody stems so the shrub can branch from the base. 14. Chinus Morgan asks about two suckers on a liquid amber, and Sean notes they appear to come from soil level. 15. Martin says liquid amber, or sweet gum, is a North American tree with hand-shaped leaves and orange to red autumn colour. 16. He advises cutting the suckers as close to the ground as possible, even if they return each year. 17. Andrew says olive trees are his best-selling plant and shows large specimens with thick trunks. 18. He says olives do not like waterlogged feet, but they can stand frost and snow if they are left alone rather than wrapped up. 19. The episode sounds conversational and practical, with nursery-walk visuals, quick jokes, and advice grounded in real examples. 20. Gardeners dealing with dry summers, mature shrubs, or patio jobs will get the most from it.

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