Q. Three days ago I dug eight 3-ft. by 3-ft. holes for trees. These holes were made in hardpan. I used a jackhammer to get down as far as I could tolerate before collapsing in a heap of protoplasm. I amended the soil properly and planted the trees, properly watered afterward to moisten, not [...]
Q. Something is eating my Wave petunias. Not sure what it is. They are torn in the middle of the stem, like something is gnawing them?
Jacksonville, Illinois
A. Thanks for growing Wave Petunias. My best guess is the problem you have is rabbits. I have a rabbit problem in my Aurora, Illinois, subdivision so I’ve seen [...]
Q. I have three Topsy turvy tomato plants. I was wondering how to pollinate them? I have them in a screened-in porch.
-Summerville, South Carolina
A. Tomatoes “self pollinate” but the mechanism is tricky. Bees usually do the job but there shouldn’t “be” any bees on your porch! The pollen is up inside the flowers. Wind can [...]
Q. I have some pumpkin plants that are a few weeks old. They had become infested with aphids so I sprayed them with a home remedy that I found online, ( 1 part veg oil 3 parts water and a few drops mild dish soap.) Well the aphids are now gone but the plant I [...]
Q. Can I put two different types/colors of honeysuckle vines beside each other against my lattice? I have a pink honeysuckle that has been in the ground for about seven weeks now and is doing great. I just bought an orange honeysuckle vine and am wondering if I could plant it beside the one I [...]
Q. I’ve been given a winter-flowering honeysuckle, and it’s been suggested that I plant it at the base of a (mature) apple tree. Would this be likely to cause either plant problems? My garden is directly south facing.
-London, United Kingdom
A. If your winter-flowering honeysuckle is Lonicera fragrantissima or Lonicera purpusii Winter Beauty they will grow [...]
Q. I have two bamboo plants. One has a much smaller leaf than the other. One is a tree-like plant in the corner of two walls, and the other is a screen behind a small wall, which acts as a partition. I have noticed that the leaves on both plants have a very shiny sticky [...]
Two very good answers to this question. Read on!
Q. Thistles have taken over one of my flowerbeds. I have pulled them, sprayed them and even tried preen. Nothing stops them from coming back. Help! Does anyone know how to rid a bed from thistles? Thank you!
-Southborough, Massachusetts
A. The only thing I’ve found that controls thistle, [...]
Posted in weed control | Tagged thistle |
Q.
I put in a NEW vegetable garden this year. I tiled in a small amount of aged horse manure and a small amount of garden soil. My zucchini plants are small but there are lots of blossoms on them, but the blossoms fall off and there is no fruit growing. The plants are also [...]
This question has two answers. Read on!
Q. I planted ornamental grass (blue) last year. This year it has grown like wild, and some had already gone to seed this week (June 9th, zone 5). I am a bit impulsive in nature and saw that seeds were falling everywhere all over my garden, so I cut [...]
