Question
Hi, I have a small piece of garden that I don't have much time to weed. I would like to put either small stones or wood chippings down. Which would be easier to do and what procedure would I have to use?
Leigh

Answer
Wood chippings would be ideal for your purpose, but before laying the chippings make sure that you have removed all perennial weeds, docks for example. The wood chips will choke annual weed seedlings, but perennial weeds, shooting up from roots, will grow through the chippings or indeed through gravel if you chose that option.

Question
Hello---with such a long cold winter, we get a bucket of wood ashes from the wood stove every 10 days. How much, if any, should we put on our compost pile??

After screening, we use the compost on the lawn early spring and to amend flowerbeds. We add some material to the compost throughout the winter but larger amounts when we garden.
Thanks for your help. M.

Answer
I would not recommend putting any ashes in to your compost, compost needs to be light and aerated, ashes would solidify the compost and prevent successful breakdown of the material.

Question
I planted an azalea about a month ago in a container with fresh potting soil. It doesn't receive much direct sunlight. At first, it bloomed with no problem. However, ever since our mini-heat wave a couple of weeks ago, the blossoms have been dying before they open. The leaves look as healthy as ever. Thank you
Lori

Answer
It could be that the freshly planted roots were just not able to absorb enough water to cope with the heat wave. Flowers put a big demand on the plant for water so they would suffer first. Another point, did you plant your azalea in ericaceous compost; i.e. lime free, ordinary compost is not suitable for azaleas, flowers dying could be the first indication that the Ph level is too high.

Question
DO you have any suggestions on getting rid of the outbreak of maple bugs, i.e. (sprays or powders), that are available on the market to get rid of these pesky creatures?
Look forward to your response, Neil

Answer
Maple bugs are usually a nuisance at fall time, when they gather to hibernate in the warmth of your house, at this time of year they are just coming out of hibernation and should soon disperse. Maple bugs do not usually do a lot of harm to maples, but if there is a damage problem spray with a systemic insecticide. Systemic insecticides are absorbed by the plant and kill when the pest eats the leaves. Also, spraying with Insecticidal soap will wash the bugs off the maples.

Question
We had an unexpected frost during which I left my peace Lilly outside. The foliage is drooping badly and will perhaps die off. Is there anything I can do to improve its chances of survival? Additionally, I have another small spathiphyllum growing in water. It seemed to grow well over the past year, putting out new shoots and even flowering, but recently the leaf tips have been browning and dying back. Are there any good minerals or additives that could help, or will it have to be moved to soil? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

Answer
Spathiphyllum need a constant temperature, the frost will not only have damaged the leaves but, more, importantly, will have damaged the root system. Best to give it time to recover; it should shoot again from the base of the stem. Do not over water during this time or the roots may rot. The Spathiphyllum growing in water, spathiphyllum are very susceptible to chlorine salts in tap water and are best given rainwater.

Question
I recently bought my first new home and around the front of my house the contractor left a space on both sides (one side has a bay window and the other side has a bedroom window) for flowers, scrubs, plants, ECT. The areas were all sand. I put topsoil on top of the sand and that is as far as I have gotten. I would like to plant both shrubs and flowers for color.

I would like something with lots of fragrance and color that will last year round if possible. If not most of the year, but still look pretty in the winter. Something that is low maintenance, since I have NO experience at gardening and I need some practice and guidance before going to the next level.

I would love my house to have lots of pretty flowers (tall and short) and shrubs to tie in with them. Would you please give me some suggests. I live in a zone 9, which is in New Orleans, LA

Answer
Unfortunately there are too many plants available for me to give you an individual list. Your local garden centre will have collections of various types of plants, the collection of each type giving a year round spread of interest.

You need to look out for collections of perennial plants; climbing plants; ground cover plants; flowering shrubs: These collections will be plants best suited to your area. Garden centres of any importance usually have an advisory officer to guide new gardeners and give general advice specific to the area. You will need to spread some garden lime on your topsoil to sweeten it for good plant growth.

Question
Hello. I have a space in backyard where a large cypress of some kind stood. During a heavy snow two months ago our tree toppled over. Now we are looking at replanting. The bed is about 10 ft long, 4-5 ft. deep. The bed is right beside, to the north, of a small apartment (detached garage position) so does not get any southerly sun. I do have irrigation (drip line?) in this bed.

On the west end of this bed, there is an unsightly window air conditioning unit about 4 feet off the ground. Do you have any ideas of something evergreen that we could plant on two sides of this a/c unit to hide camouflage it? Or do you think some lattice type structure would serve best?

Answer
I would suggest a few camellias, theses are evergreen and flower in the spring to early summer, there are various colours and flowering times and they prefer a northerly aspect. Plus they would grow tall enough to block out the air condition unit. A lattice type structure could be used to support the camellias to a greater height.

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Question
I am so fortunate to happen upon your web site. The Peony is my FAVORITE flower and the last few years they have been available in California starting in March. I read they like a "southern exposure" and I am worried that the dry CA heat will be too much for them to get full sun all day. Any suggestions to try to have a successful CA Peony? Thanks, AJ
Alana

Answer
Peonies love the sun; they need plenty of water while the flower is forming and during the actual flowering period. They do tend to suffer from various fungal infections and are best sprayed with Bordeaux mixture in the early spring and in late summer. Peonies really need a good frost to kill of these fungal infections and also, to drive the plant into winter dormancy.

Question
I live in lower east Michigan and I have multiple accumulations of gnats in my front and backyard. What is odd is that the gnats accumulate in the same areas every year. They are often in alignment with my front sidewalk, so you have to hold your breath to get to my front door. How can I eliminate them?

Answer
Gnats.Your gnats probably hover over your front sidewalk because it has been heated up by the sun and is giving off more heat than the rest of the yard. Gnats congregate in spring for breeding purposes and usually spread out later.

Question
Hi! Two years ago I planted 2 Italian Prune Trees. They were bare root, young trees. Last year, one tree flowered and the other didn't; however, the flowering tree did not produce any plums. The flowering tree is in a sunnier and drier location while the non-flowering is in a slightly shadier and moister location. Both trees were watered everyday during the summer.

This spring, the same tree is flowering again and the same tree is not flowering again. So I have two questions, why does one flower and the other doesn't? Why does the flowering one produce no plums even though it says it is self-pollinating? What can I do to increase the likelihood of getting plums from both trees? Thanks,
Susan. Seattle

Answer
Self pollinating fruit trees were developed for orchards and you are always better off with several trees of the same variety to get good results. Your non-flowering tree could be a late developer and may flower in time.

Italian prune trees are grafted on to either wild plum or peach rootstocks, you could have one tree grafted on to a plum and one on to a peach, this could give a totally different growth habit. The trees could possibly have come from two totally different climate zones, which would give them different growth habit. Your non-flowering tree could be producing its flower buds too early and suffering frost damage.

Question
I am not an experienced gardener and write to you as such. There is a well-established hawthorn hedge, which is the boundary between my neighbour's garden and mine. I know that my neighbour would not want the hedge removed and although I would prefer an evergreen hedge, I quite like the hawthorn in the summer.

I would like to know the best way to keep down the width and keep the height. I have thought about putting a lowish (4 foot) fence along it to hopefully stop the outward growth and then planting other shrubs etc in front of this.

Do you think this would work or would the outward growth push the hedge out of position and is there anything which could be put on the lower growths to stop them growing outwards.
Many thanks for any advice.

Answer
For countless centuries hawthorn has been used for livestock fencing, and to get a thick, stock proof, hedge is was the practice to trim the hedge to required height and width every year. Possibly twice a year, a heavy trim in winter and a light trim in mid summer. Hawthorn is really a tree and left to its own devices your hedge would soon develop into a few large trees with big gaps in between. So trimming is the order of the day and keep it down to size.

Question
We are building on a recently cleared lot. The trees are filled with vines and thorns. How do we get rid of these without harming the trees? Someone told me to use atrazine (spelling?) but won't this harm the trees?
Jodi

Answer
Atrazine is a general broad leaf weed killer and is used in orchards forestry plantations and on certain food crops. However its use is heavily restricted and there is much debate about possible environmental issues.

You need to cut off the offending vines and thorns at just above ground level. Then when tender new growth appears on the stumps, spray with 'Roundup' systemic herbicide, this will be absorbed by the plant and the rooting system will be destroyed. This will take a number of applications according to the size of the plants.

Note the active chemical in Roundup is Glyphosate; there are various other brands of weed killer on the market also containing Glyphosate. It is always best to spay in very calm conditions and cover any plants you wish to keep against possible spray drift.

Question
Could you tell me how to get rid of deep roots I know one of them is ivy but don't know what the others are.
Thank you.

Answer
Best to spray your roots with an herbicide containing Glyphosate, this is absorbed by the plant and kills the roots by distorting the plant cells. Roundup is a major brand but there are many others. Be careful not to spray any plants that you wish to keep. Unfortunately ivy will be more difficult to control and you may have to resort to digging these out.

Question
Prunus cerasifera Nigra.
Could you please help me? I have two of the above trees planted approx 7ft from my property, they measure trunk about 3inches in diameter and about 8ft tall. I am worried Could they cause any damage to my foundations.
Thanks in anticipation, Wal.

Answer
Prunus cerasifera Nigra are often used as hedging and kept trimmed, are easily managed, however a mature specimen left to its own devises can reach 30 ft in height. A specimen of this size could have a root spread of 15 feet from the trunk in any direction. You could heavily trim your examples in order to keep to a manageable size. Best trimmed after flowering is over.

Question
Hi.........I saw your lawn care question and answer site and thought you could help. I just spent thousands of dollars on sod and sprinkler system last Fall on my summer home on Maryland's Eastern Shore.

I returned in the spring only to find large numbers of geese taking up residence on my new lawn. I spent hours picking up droppings and putting in a deer fence across the back adjacent to a pond. It helps, but they are still getting on the lawn. I am concerned that the new sod will not grow lush and green because of these creatures.

Do you think the lawn will still grow? What treatments do you suggest I give it this spring? Any comments would be welcome.

Answer
A chemical called methyl anthranilate has been approved, to spray on the grass; this gives the grass a taste that the geese find repellent, but soon washes off. Ask at your local garden outlet or your local County or University outreach department about availability.

Feed your grass with a high nitrogen fertiliser to keep the grass growing, also a generous amount of garden lime will help the grass to establish itself and will also neutralise the acid effects of the geese droppings.

Valecroft Nurseries.

Also see APRIL GARDENING QUESTION AND ANSWER
and
APRIL GARDENING Q&A, PAGE 2.
APRIL GARDENING Q&A, PAGE 4. pages.

MAY GARDENING QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

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