In message , Martin
writes
On Tue, 19 Aug 2014 07:56:41 +0100, David Rance
wrote:

In message , Martin
writes

On Mon, 18 Aug 2014 21:31:47 +0100 (BST), (Nick
Maclaren) wrote:

There are no bamboos that are more than mildly invasive outside
the very warmest parts of the UK (and the Netherlands is similar
to the south-east). Furthermore, they have to compete with
11,000 years of plant immigration, and the survival of the most
thuggish.

It makes one wonder why anybody would put this on the RHS website

"Planting inside a physical barrier
New bamboo plants or divisions can be contained within a physical barrier to
prevent them spreading through beds and borders.

Dig a trench at least 60cm (2ft) deep, but ideally 120cm (4ft) deep
Line the sides of the trench with either solid materials (such as
paving slabs,
corrugated iron sheets or pre-cast concrete drain sections) or with
fabric (such
as root barrier fabric obtainable from Green Tech Ltd or industrial linoleum
(2mm (1/8in) thick), available from builders merchants).

Etc., etc.

I have wondered about the accuracy of some advice on the RHS website
ever since I saw that they say that:

"There are no fungicides available to amateur gardeners for use against
downy mildews."

https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=683

yet viticulturists (including me) have used Bordeaux Mixture for years
against downy mildew.

Or is Bordeaux Mixture not a fungicide?

Or am I not an amateur?

"From Telegraph Gardening:
Bordeaux Mixture itself has recently been revoked (i.e. not banned, but
its uses
re-defined), but it will available until February 2013. For more, see
www.rhs.org.uk or www.pesticides.gov.uk (go to Databases Home, and look at
'Garden Pesticides’) [I can't find that HSE stuff] and be warned, this is a
complicated issue. Bayer Fruit and Vegetable Disease Control is a traditional
fungicide containing another form of copper (copper oxychloride), which appears
to have got the bureaucratic thumbs up, and this might be your best bet.

From RHS website
Bordeaux Mixture will be withdrawn from sale on 28 February 2013 but any person
can use and store existing stocks until 28 February 2015."

Bordeaux Mixture is still readily available in do-it-yourself stores.
I've just bought some!

Also, elsewhere on the RHS site, it still recommends the use of Bordeaux
Mixture.

David

--
David Rance writing from Le Mesnil Villement, Calvados, France