Question.
    I would be grateful if you could answer these questions on your question and answer page. I recently bought an Elizabethan House and in the grounds are 24 Yew trees. I have not had Yew trees before and in June 2003 they all went slightly brown and dropped some needles. It has taken some time for them to recover.

Is this normal and does it happen every year? The three largest trees, which are slightly taller than a house, have not recovered. Two have died although the third one is now showing signs of new growth. Have you any explanation on what may have happened and what I can do to prevent this happening to the others.
Thank you Neville

Answer.
    This sounds like a very low water table during a summer dry spell. The two trees that appear to be dead may well recover don't get the chain saw out until you are sure. An application of a high nitrogen fertiliser should help new needle growth.

Q.
    Hi - I wondered if you could recommend a perennial ground cover (possibly flowering) that would grow well in a shady area underneath a row of pine trees - with highly acidic soil. The trees are trimmed up about 3 feet, and nothing seems to grow in this spot. Help!
Thanks, Mary Anne

A.
    The following perennial ground cover plants should fill your needs. Vinca major or Vinca minor (periwinkle); Rose of Sharon; Euphorbia cyparissias; Bergenia; Helleborus foetidus. Foxglove; Gladwin iris.

Q.
    How do you make Hydrangeas lighter in color? We have a deep purple and want to make it lighter in color.
Thanks, Christine

A.
    Feed with iron additive for hydrangeas, marketed too make hydrangea flowers blue, available at garden outlets, also feed an acid fertiliser, this may work.

Q.
    I have an Acer in a pot on the patio. I bought it about 4years ago as one suitable for pot growing and it has done very well until this year. It produced its leaves in spring and looked good for a few weeks but now looks absolutely dead! I have done nothing different from previous years. Can I cut it down to within a foot of the soil and hope it will grow again next year? Or what can be done?
Judith

A.
    Acer can suffer badly from severe green fly attack in the spring especially if the attack coincides with a dry spell. This sounds like the case here. Best to wait until next spring before doing any pruning, meanwhile place in a shaded corner out of the sun. The tree could re-grow but don't be too hopeful.

Q.
    I take care of my landlord's yard for him; he has ARAPAHO, NAVAJO, and AND ROSBOROUGH BLACKBERRY BUSHES. How am I supposed to trim them back? Some of them are already looking dead. Will they return next spring? We don't no how we should trim them.
Thank you for your help.

A.
    Trim out any dead stems and any that are growing in an undesirable direction. If growing on a trellis or wires, tie up any strong stems to the trellis and spread them out to give access to the light. With cultivated blackberries the new growth comes on last years stems. The wild types can be cut down to the ground and will re-grow next year.

Q.
    Hello, If we want to keep our pumps for our pond running well, do we need to get a filter for it and how and where would we install it? (We have fish in it). I plant different annuals in our porch every year and every year get lots of green looking mite like bugs on them and they eat the plant even if I use items like 'savers' or dish soap or dry crystals in the dirt and other items on them. I have skipped a whole year before and changed pots, but they always return.
Thank you for the help. Dis

A.
    The subject of pond filters is very wide ranging. Basically if you have fish the water needs to be cleaned of the fish by-products. You are best fitting an underwater filter, these have a cleanable or replaceable filter medium, the downside is that if your pond is large you have to wade into the pond to replace the filter element.

If your pump is powering a fountain, or such, you are better with a filter after the pump in addition to the underwater one; this prevents the fine jet of the fountain becoming clogged. Again these have some form of serviceable filter medium, but the filter is out of the water.

Some pool owners with larger set ups do not use mechanical filters, instead they pump the water on to a loose stone waterfall or other such feature, the sediment from the pool settling among the stones. You can also pump the water into a separate bog area, containing bog plants and reeds; this is situated slightly higher than the pool. The bog area will clean the water by settlement and biological action. The cleaned water then returning to the pool by gravity.

For your plants, you are best spraying them with a systemic insecticide, the plant absorbs a systemic insecticide and the insects are killed when they attempt to eat the plant. If you wish to use insecticidal soaps, you need an almost daily application when the infestation is at its highest.
VALECROFT NURSERIES

Q.
    Between a gardening neighbour and myself we have approx 125 dahlias. I will readily admit that his are far better than mine but we both have a common problem. As many as 15%have hardly grown since they were transplanted from pots in late May. Many are beautiful and in bloom, Can you tell me what could be the cause of the slow growers.
Bill

A.
    Your dahlias could be short of water; some varieties need more water than others.
You could have bought dwarf dahlias by mistake.
The roots may be under attack from army worms (cut worms) vine weevil, or various other maggots, carefully dig amongst the roots for evidence.
Your ground may be infected by potato eelworm, moving to another area of the garden is the only way to avoid this affliction.

Q.
    I have wisteria covering an arbour, which is very healthy however a yellow substance, which I imagine is some type of fungus just, appeared on a major part of the mulch that surrounds the plant. The weather here has been consistently humid & wet since the spring so there are many different fungi popping up all over (mushroom-types, etc.) My question is could this damage the wisteria (which I have painstakingly nurtured to get where it is now)? I don't know if all the mulch should be disposed of, if there is something I can use to get rid of it, or I should just leave it alone. Any idea? Thanks,
Lynn from New Jersey

A.
    This will be some form of fungus that is breaking down the mulch, especially if the mulch contains wood chippings, digging it over with a fork should slow it down. Some garden lime dusted on to the mulch would make the mulch more alkaline and discourage fungus growth. If your wisteria still looks healthy this late on in the year, it would seem unlikely that any damage is being done.

Q.
    Hi,
I don't know if you can help me but here goes. I have in my garden a pseudoacasia, or so I am told although it neither flowers nor has thorns. When we bought this house the tree looked like an Acacia in shape. In the intervening years, however, it as filled out and lost its distinctive shape to the point that my neighbours, who were concerned we would cut it down, are now complaining that it cuts out their light. What it the best way to prune this tree? I don't want to reduce it to a stump or stumps.
Pete

A.
    Robinia pseudoacasia is grafted on to a non-ornamental rootstock. Sometimes this graft fails and suckers from the rootstock replace the ornamental Pseudoacasia while no one is looking. It seems possible that the tree you have is now some form of wild Robinia.

Q.
    Can I grow Mexican Heather indoors?

A.
    I am not aware that you can grow Mexican Heather indoors. It might be fun to try though.
VALECROFT NURSERIES

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