The Happy Garden Newsletter - August 3, 2006

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This fragrant tea rose is planted in a whiskey barrel that sits on my deck in the backyard; the fragrance is sweet smelling like a beautiful dusting powder and the brilliance of the colors will take your breath away to look at them.

By WandaJo from Collierville, Tennessee

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This woody hibiscus was literally "plucked" from the side of the road. My husband was on a road call for his company - he is diesel mechanic - he spotted these plants growing on the side of the road in a ditch. He brought it home and I rooted it and planted it in a pot. This is the first year it has bloomed. We enjoy it and it is special to me because my husband "picked" it for me and brought it home. It attracts red throated hummingbirds and that is a joy to watch the hummingbirds feeding in the beautiful pink blooms

By WandaJo from Collierville, Tennessee

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One of the best ways to prolong color in your perennial beds and borders is to deadhead spent flowers. Not only does this encourage reflowering by limiting seed production and self-seeding, it keeps the garden looking neat and tidy by focusing all of the attention on the living flowers. Here are some tips on how to deadhead specific types of perennials.

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Question:

Hardiness Zone: 5a

bshale from Leon, Iowa

Answer:

Sounds like you have Squash Vine Borers. In the larvae or caterpillar stage, they are white with a dark head. They hatch from eggs laid in the soil by wasp-like moths, and then tunnel into stalks and leaf stems to feed. As they tunnel along eating the inner tissues of the plant, they push brown-colored waste out their entrance holes. The boring restricts the flow of water and nutrients to the plants and weakens their physical structure. In some cases, vigorous plants are able to survive the attack if the borer population is limited, but unfortunately, this is seldom the case.

Here are a number of organic methods for controlling them in the garden:

Trying to save infested plants:

1. Carefully slit open infested stems and remove the borer with a tweezers, and pack dirt around the slit.
2. Use a medicine dropper to inject infested vines with parasitic nematodes.
3. At the first sign of trouble, cut out and destroy infected stems or whole plants to reduce spreading.

To control them in the garden:

1. Interplant garlic and onion with zucchini.
2. Plow crops under in the fall to destroy pupae.
3. Release trichogramma (tiny wasps used for biological control) to attack borer eggs in soil.
4. Use pheromone traps for adult moths.
5. Use the proper variety of parasitic nematode as mulch around plants.
6. Cover vines with floating row covers early in the season (you'll need to hand-pollinate).
7. Plant early or very late to avoid the main egg-laying season.
8. Plant borer tolerant cultivars.
9. Clean up debris around the garden in the fall to reduce areas where they can overwinter.

Good luck!
Ellen

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Question:

I have seen dirty car wash water being used on other dirt but wonder if this could be used on plants to keep bugs off?

Kate from Camden, SC

Answer:

Kate,

This is a great question and at first glance, it seems like a good way to conserve water. I have no doubt that recycled water from washing your car would work to keep bugs off plants; unfortunately, I see a major problem with the detergent. Household soap and detergents that use sodium, chlorine and boron (as in Borox) are harmful to plants, either on contact, or after building up in the soil over time. High phosphate detergents can also be a major source of water pollution. Home remedies for the garden calling for liquid dish soap are generally more benign as long as you use soap that contains as few additives as possible (e.g. ivory). Compared to household detergents, most car shampoos are full of toxic additives. When you think about it, they have to be. They need to be strong enough to cut through the grease, tar, gasoline, exhaust residues, motor oil, etc., that we get on our cars, and still be able to wax, polish and protect our car's finish. Keep in mind that all the dirt and grime we wash off our cars (and spray on those bugs) would also be landing on our plants and in the surrounding soil. Even "all natural" car shampoos still leave us with the toxic residues we wash off the car. If you had the right kind of small scale filter for the water (maybe you could invent one?), this hurdle could be resolved.

The average person uses 65 gallons of water to wash their car so it would be great to figure out a way to recycle this water for use at home. I'm not a big fan of washing cars in the yard or driveway, however. It just dumps more water into the sewer system, and storm water run-off is a huge source of pollution problems in most communities. Incidentally, many commercial car washes now recycle their gray water. Call around to find one where you live. Although most recycle water to reduce costs (or because they are regulated), the environmental benefits are a great bonus.

Ellen

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Question:

Hardiness Zone: 6b

Woofey from Southern, MA

Answer:

The best way to eradicate poison ivy from such a big area is probably by repeated mowing or grazing the areas heavily for several years (sheep and goats apparently show no ill effects when eating it). Repeatedly taking poison ivy down to soil level will eventually cause the roots to die out. Unfortunately, this does nothing to spare your hay. Even when using chemicals like Brush-B-Gone, which is non-selective and also very toxic, poison ivy is difficult to get rid of in small areas. The size of your field makes eliminating it all the more challenging. Some sources recommend repeated mowing followed by plowing it under to control it in large agricultural areas. Not knowing your situation (whether you need to use the hay for your own livestock or you sell it to others as a cash crop, etc.), I don't know if this is even an option for you. You could try checking with your county extension agency http://www.umassextension.org/index.html or the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources http://www.mass.gov/agr/. Their sites may also offer you links to helpful information.

Good luck!
Ellen

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Question:

I hope I have given you enough information. Do you want me to send a pictures?

Hardiness Zone: 7a

Marianne from Richmond, VA

Answer:

In their natural environment, bamboo grows under a canopy of tall, tropical trees. It really needs very little sunlight to grow, so start by examining the light it receives. If your kitchen is bathed in natural light, indirect light might still be too bright. The more indirect light it receives the better. Brown leaf tips are the first sign it's getting an overdose of light. Another factor could be the water you're giving it. Filtered water is best, because city water usually contains fluoride, salts and chlorine that can quickly build up and cause problems. The same is true for watering houseplants. Invest in a filtering pitcher and use it to water your indoor plants (and ideally yourself!). Remove the rocks and wash them thoroughly (in filtered water) before putting them back. Start over with filtered water and give your plant some time to form healthy new leaves. Whether you keep your bamboo in water or soil, it isn't going to get the nutrients you need unless you supplement its growing environment with fertilizer. A houseplant fertilizer will work fine, just follow directions carefully and don't overdo it.

Ellen

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Question:

Hardiness Zone: 10a

Helene from Sarasota, Florida

Answer:

Helene,

If by "natural" you mean organic, you might try applying horticultural oils. These oils were originally developed to prevent transmission of viruses (often spread by aphids) and to kill hard-to-control pests that overwinter on trees. They work on aphids and other soft-bodied insects by smothering them, but they also work on caterpillars and many plant diseases. Most are made with natural ingredients-usually derived from different types of plant oils. Horticultural oils should not be applied during freezing weather, at temperatures above 100 degrees, during excessive humidity or when rain is in the immediate forecast. Some oils cause leaves to scald and burn so they should be tested on a small area first before wider application.

There are also many organic insecticidal soaps effective at controlling aphids. Again, they can cause leaves to burn so they should be tested in small areas before applying. You can make you own with 1-1/2 teaspoons of liquid dish soap to 1 quart of water. These need to be reapplied after it rains and may need to be washed off within a few hours/days to avoid scalding leaves.

Teas made from wormwood or nasturtium are also said to repel aphids from fruit trees. These are made by mashing or blending 1 to 2 cups of fresh leaves with 2 to 4 cups of water and leaving them to soak overnight. You can also make them by pouring 2-4 cups of boiling water over 2-4 cups of fresh or 1 to 2 cups of dry leaves and letting them steep until cool. Strain out the pulp and add 2-4 more cups of water. Adding a small amount of liquid dish soap (1/4 teaspoon) will help the "tea" stick to the leaves when you spray it. Apply this weekly and make sure you get it on the undersides of the leaves.

I think the simplest and most effective chemical-free treatment for aphids is simply to spray them off with a stiff jet of water from the garden hose. You don't have to worry about burning or scalding your leaves and your tree will appreciate the water.

Ellen

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Question:

WINDELLA from PASADENA, CA

Answer:

WINDELLA,

This is a great question, and one that really got me thinking. The simple answer is this:

Your cucumbers are perfectly normal. Wear gloves when you harvest them and try not to get pricked. Cucumbers are generally divided into two groups-pickling types and slicing types. These groups are based on shape and color. The pickling types tend to be the short and stocky varieties. They usually have dark green midsections and are a lighter green color on the ends. They are covered in prickly little spines-either black or white in color, and are thicker skinned than the slicing types.

The next time you're at the grocery store, take a look at the cucumbers in the produce department and compare them to the jarred pickles in the condiment aisle. You'll notice that the cucumbers in the produce section are long and a deep, uniformly deep green color. They are also straight and round, the perfect shape for slicing. Cucumbers in the produce section look smooth, but they also have spines (white), which were removed for your convenience in preparation for transport to the grocery store. If you look at the jarred pickles, the "spine scars" are easy to see on the skin. The spines on pickling cucumbers tend to be shorter and broader so they leave bigger scars.

The real curiosity is why cucumber plants developed spiny fruits in the first place. In the animal kingdom, spines develop a means of protection. It would be interesting (to me, anyway) to know more about why the cucumber developed spiny fruit. Incidentally, sea cucumbers are related to spiny sea urchins, yet they rarely have spines.

Ellen

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Question:

Hardiness Zone: 6b

Bob H from Northern Utah

Answer:

Bob,

As you already know, Johnson grass is tough as nails and hard to eradicate! A single plant can produce over 5,000 seeds that can lay dormant for up to 20 years. Ugh! Unless you're dealing with a small amount, I don't recommend trying to "pull it out" because the rhizomes usually break off easily and are left in the ground to spread. Besides, you're more likely to end up with a back injury from trying to pull these buggers out than you are likely to get rid of them. If you yard is heavily infested, digging them out is probably not a reasonable solution either. No good management solutions exist for this type of grass short of tilling everything up and starting over. Even that's a bad idea, because Johnson grass thrives where there has recently been a soil disturbance. So to that extent, I can only offer you a few suggestions.

The best advice I can give you is to keep established plants mowed down close to soil level. Repeated mowing (bi-weekly) will help starve the rhizomes of nutrients, eventually causing the plant to give up (we hope). Using a propane torch may also help, but be warned that some studies suggest this actually encourages re-growth when done in the spring. Late winter is a better time for torching. If you live outside city limits, heavy grazing (goats, geese or sheep) will also help reduce plant vigor as well as spot treatment using herbicides.

If some patches of the grass are in lower concentrations in some areas, digging or tilling is effective providing that you remove all of the rhizomes (don't just chop them up with a tiller or you will end up with a thousand more little starter rhizomes). Reseed immediately with the appropriate grass seed and keep all other Johnson grass mowed down to prevent it from spreading to the newly disturbed area by seed. You're probably going to have to employ a number of these strategies (and a few years of patience) in order to rid yourself of this invasive menace completely.

Good luck!
Ellen

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To keep tomato horn worms off my tomatoes I plant marigolds next to them. I plant tomatoes in groups of four with two to three marigolds in between them. In twenty plus years of gardening I have only had three horn worms I had to remove.

By Steve from Dorr, Michigan

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Question:

Answer:

Let's try the process of elimination. Does the rest of the plant look okay? Are there spots or yellow leaves? First check for insect damage (specifically mites). If you don't see anything, move on to checking for fungal disease-specifically botrytis blight. I know the east coast has had some severe weather this summer, although I'm not sure how you've been affected. This fungal disease can occur anytime during the growing season, but is most common after extended periods of wet weather. When flower buds are infected, they usually turn black and shrivel up or fail to open. You may also see gray fuzzy growth on other parts of the plant. If flower buds do open, the petals sometimes appear water-soaked or matted. If this sound like it could be the problem, you'll want to remove affected plants to prevent the blight from spreading or treat them with a fungicide. Also, use trickle irrigation, or water early in the day so the plants have time to dry before evening and make sure they are spaced properly so they get good air circulation. Other possibilities might include severe swings in temperature (hot or cold) or too much/too little watering. Without seeing your plant, it's hard to know, but I hope this gives you some ideas.

Ellen

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Shrubs provide the garden with structure and form. They create shade, control wind, add color and drama, and once they become established, most are easy to grow and maintain. Like other trees and plants in the landscape, shrubs give us visual clues when they are unhappy. Here are a few solutions to some common ornamental shrub problems.

Problem: The leaves on your shrub are turning yellow by mid-summer.

Yellow leaves may or may not be an indicator that your shrub is suffering from stress.

Possible Causes: Mineral deficiencies; viral infections; incorrect moisture levels; alkaline soil; natural shedding of needles or leaves.

Solutions: The leaves on your shrubs may turn yellow if your soil is deficient in either nitrogen (widespread throughout leaf) or magnesium (restricted to edges and the space around veins). This can happen when heavy rains or excessive watering wash away crucial minerals. Performing a soil test is the only way to measure your soil for deficiencies. Applying a high-nitrogen fertilizer or Epsom salts (for magnesium) will usually correct the problem. Make sure to follow the recommended application and dilution rates.

If leaves are yellowing in distinct patterns (streaking, striping, spotting or mosaic), your shrub may have a viral infection. In many cases, treatment may not be necessary. Many shrubs can fight off viral infections without lasting effects.

Overwatering (and occasionally underwatering) can result in root damage, which causes leaves to turn yellow and drop. Make sure shrubs are planted in well-drained soil. In most cases, it's best to let the soil dry out slightly between watering. Applying a diluted fertilizer can help stimulate growth to remaining roots.

Shrubs like azaleas and some evergreens naturally shed old leaves and produce new ones on a continuous basis. Although this is usually barely noticeable, at times many leaves can be affected at once.

Problem: Your shrub is producing few, if any, berries.

Possible Causes: Lack of nearby male or female plant; lack of moisture; improper pruning; stolen berries.

Solutions: Certain types of shrubs produce male and female flowers on separate plants. If you unknowingly bought just one sex or the other, or a partner shrub two doors down is suddenly removed, your shrub will not produce berries. Ask your garden center if your particular shrub type needs a partner to produce berries and be aware that even cultivars bearing female names (e.g. autumn lady') can still be either male or female specimens.

Too little moisture may cause berries to drop off early. Make sure you water your shrubs evenly and consistently and mulch around the base to conserve moisture.

Where there are no flowers, there are no berries. Check the correct pruning time for your shrub. Trimming away spent flowers or pruning at the wrong time can result in removing potential berries.

It's no secret that birds love berries. Netting and various scare tactics may be necessary to keep them from stealing your berry crop. Some have suggested that birds find yellow berries the least appetizing.

Problem: Your newly planted shrub doesn't seem to be growing.

Possible Causes: Poor plant or planting technique; lack of moisture, incorrect soil type.

Solutions: Occasionally a shrub fails to grow or heads for gradual decline because it was compromised at the time of purchase. More often than not, however, a shrub starts to die back or fails to get growing due to improper planting techniques. Make sure you prepare the planting site with well-drained soil that has the proper pH. Plant the shrub in a hole that is twice as wide and slightly shallower than the root ball. Back fill the hole with no more than 25% of new soil and water the hole as you fill it with soil to prevent air pockets from forming around the roots. Keep your shrub well watered for the first two growing seasons. If necessary, construct a circular basin to keep water channeled toward roots by mounding up the soil around the base of the shrub.

Problem: Your shrub produces a disappointing display of flowers.

Possible Causes: Excessive nitrogen; improper pruning.

Solutions: Switch to a high-potassium organic fertilizer in the early spring and fall and check the correct pruning time for your shrub to avoid cutting off the wood that bears flowers buds. Shrubs that are flowering when purchased have often been forced to flower early. After getting them home and transplanting them, it can take several years for them to settle in and establish themselves before re-flowering. Once a shrub begins to bloom, you can sometimes prolong the flowering by deadheading faded flowers or cutting back the flowers borne of very short stalks.

Problem: Your shrub has dead or brown looking stems and shoots in the spring.

To find out whether or not your shrub is dead or dying, use a sharp knife to remove a small piece of bark near the affected shoot. If the stem is brown and dry under the bark (not green and moist) the shoot is dead. To check the extent of the damage, make several small cuts toward the main body of the shrub until you reach healthy tissue.

Possible Causes: Winter damage; poor drainage.

Solutions: Avoid pruning too late in the season. This encourages new growth that is easily damaged by winter temperatures. The same is true of applying fertilizer late in the season. Stop fertilizing after mid-summer or switch to a high potassium fertilizer to help the wood toughen up for winter. Wrap vulnerable shrubs in a cage made of chicken wire filled with leaves or straw for added winter protection. Avoid planting shrubs in poorly drained soil. The combination of cold temperatures and wet weather in the spring can be damaging to many shrubs.

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Question:

Hardiness Zone: 7a

Sassy from Trilla, IL

Answer:

Sassy,

Your friend's tulip tree has an aphid problem, which is typical for this type of tree. Tulip trees are lovely to look at, but famous for developing "aphid drip." The "sprinkles of rain" you're seeing is actually the tree dripping honeydew; a sticky substance secreted by the aphids as they suck the sap from the tree's leaves and flowers. If you touch some of the grass under your friend's tree, you'll probably find that it's sticky. Honeydew can make a real mess, especially on roofs, outdoor furniture and your car.

Aphids can complete several life cycles in a season so the drips probably start about the time populations are at their peak. If her tree is large, it probably won't suffer serious damage from the aphids, but it will suffer a loss of vigor as a result of losing sap. The problem is that aphid honeydew attracts sooty mold, which can spread to other plants and trees. The mold is not only unsightly, but it can restrict photosynthesis. The aphids themselves attract other unwanted insect pests, and they can reduce the tree's vigor and stunt its growth if populations get out of control.

Unfortunately, controlling aphids on these types of trees can be difficult and how your friend tackles the problem will depend on how big her tree is. A lot can be accomplished just by spraying the tree down regularly with a forceful stream of water from the garden hose. Since this sounds like it's an ongoing problem, she may want to seek a combination of biological and chemical controls. Releasing ladybug beetles, pirate bugs or parasitic wasps will all help control populations. She may also want to consider spraying her tree with any one of a number of organic insectidal soaps.

Ellen

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Question:

Hardiness Zone: 8b

Sherry Hampton from Valdosta, GA

They will bloom in shade, but not as well.

Answer:

Your cannas look great! My first guess is also that they are not getting enough sun. Without enough, you'll get lots and lots of tall foliage, but no flowers. Also, cannas are not big nitrogen users, so use a tomato or rose fertilizer that is higher in phosphorus. Cannas don't do well when they stand in water so my advice would be to drill some drainage holes in the bottom of your pot (it's gorgeous, by the way). There's no need to be intimidated by this, just select a drill bit designed to drill through ceramic, strap on some safty goggles and have at it. River rocks will keep your canna's roots from standing in the water, but it won't provide drainage. You'll want to be able to periodically flush the salts that naturally build up (from water and fertilizer) out of the soil. Your pot will also be lighter when wet and easier to transport. If you decide to forgo drainage holes in favor of keeping the river rock, make sure you water slowly and frequently. You will want to keep the top few inches of soil moist, but not have water running through and sitting in the bottom of your pot.

Ellen

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Question:

Mike from Big Bear City, CA

Answer:

Mike,

I'm not aware of any home remedies you can make to kill weeds selectively over a large area. For weeds growing up through the gravel you can try spot spraying them with vinegar (vinegar is not selective though, so be careful). You need a hot sunny day for this for it to be really effective. You could also burn weeds with a propane torch. This method seems to work really well for weeds in gravel driveways or paths. Pouring straight Epsom salt on some weeds will turn them black and kill them over the course of a few days. Another strategy is to prevent weeds from germinating by applying corn gluten meal to the area. This is a natural corn by-product (usually used in animal feeds) that provides pre-emergent weed control by interfering with root development. You should be able to find it at feed stores and some garden centers. Corn gluten meal is also non-selective, so you need to time application with when your weeds normally germinate. It won't harm already planted grass or bulbs (in fact it's a great lawn fertilizer), but if you planning on re-seeding your lawn or planting flower seeds in the area you'll need to wait 6 weeks. It's usually applied at a rate of 2 lbs per 100 square feet and provides 6 to 8 weeks of control.

Good luck!
Ellen

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Question:

Hardiness Zone: 6b

msumom from Middle TN

Answer:

Msumom,

Examine the root-ends of your callas carefully. If they appear "mowed off" cleanly you may have a cutworm infestation. If that is the case sifting through nearby soil should also turn up a worm or two. Cutworms can be green, cream, brown or black in color and sometimes striped or banded. They feed at night and usually curl up into a c-shaped ball near plants during the day. Plants damaged by cutworms will often fall over on their own after being sheared off at the base. Because you can still physically pull yours out, it might be more likely that they're suffering from overwatering. The roots may still be intact when you pull them out or they might break off at a point where they have started to rot. Bulbs are tricky, especially when plants are young. They rot incredibly fast if given too much moisture. Make sure your soil has good drainage and let the top inch of soil dry out between watering. Once the plant starts to develop its full set of leaves, you can give it a regular watering and keep the soil moist (not wet) for the duration of the growing season.

Ellen

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Question:

I have dill planted in my garden and I was wanting to harvest the seed for making pickles. What is the best way to go about harvesting the dill seeds?

Hardiness Zone: 5a

LIz from Tolono, IL

Answer:

Liz,

Dill is great in so many dishes. If one doesn't already exist, someone should get busy writing a cookbook filled solely with dill recipes. To harvest dill seed for pickles, let the flowers open and the seed turn brown. Cut the seed heads off and put them into a paper bag. As the flowers finish drying the seeds will simply fall off into the bag (or you can shake them). I've also seen people wait until the flower dies off and then tie panty hose over the flower heads, securing them to the stem with a twist tie. The seeds keep right on drying, and when you need them you just cut off the nylons below the twist tie and you've got yourself a nice stocking full of dill seed. If you're harvesting leaves, it's best to pick the before the plant flowers. The stems also freeze well. Just take them out of the freezer, snip off as much as you need, and stick the rest back into the freezer.

Ellen

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The leaves on my hibiscus plants are turning yellow. Some of the leaves looks limp like they need water. I have beautiful blooms. Can anyone tell me what to do? I do not want to lose my beautiful plants.

TUEY From FORT COLLINS, CO

Answer:

There are a lot of reasons hibiscus leaves turn yellow. Yellow leaves are a signal that the plant is stressed, but the fact that you have beautiful blooms is a good sign. You didn't say whether or not your plant was growing in the garden or indoors. Have any major changes taken place in the plant's environmental conditions recently? Leaves can turn yellow from too much water, not enough water, a lack of light (doubtful if you have flowers), insect damage (specifically mites and thrips), sudden changes in temperature (extended periods of heat or cold drafts from air conditioners), or from having to adjust to a new location (did you move it recently?). Hibiscuses are rather high maintenance plants that don't adapt quickly to changes in their environment. If insects are the problem, treat as necessary. If they are not the problem and none of these other suggestions seem to fit, check the plant for root damage. Otherwise try to maintain stable conditions for the plant and the problem will probably clear up on its own. Avoid continuously changing its food and water regime and keep its light and location consistent.

Ellen

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I have honeydew, cantaloupe and watermelons growing in my small garden. They are doing great except there are ants and little white gnats all over them! What can I use to get rid of these pests? Any suggestions as long as they aren't toxic.

Hardiness Zone: 9b

Thanks,
Gayle from Queen Creek, AZ

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I live in the southwest and I have roses in my yard. They were doing good for a while then when the summer heat hits they really go numb. I was told to put coffee grounds and epsom salt on them, well I did this and now they are turning brown, the leaves are brown and yellow. They are on a drip watering system, so they get watered twice a day. What went wrong?

Hardiness Zone: 9b

Gayle from Queen Creek, AZ

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I have been growing sunflowers for a few years. The first two years I planted them, I had great success. I had tall sunflowers with the large heads and many seeds to eat. But the last few years I can't get those large heads anymore. The sunflowers grow tall and then the tops of the plant branch off and make several small flowers rather than one big one. I am buying new seeds every year. This year I chose Mammoth. What am I doing wrong?

Hardiness Zone: 7a

Monica from Moab, UT

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How can I bring an old pear tree back to good health. It produces a good crop, slightly discolored. Should I be spraying and fertilizing it?

Hardiness Zone: 8a

Janey from Brookhaven, MS

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I live in the North Island of New Zealand and have a very large vegetable garden which with our winter becomes overrun with kikuyu grass and weed. I DO NOT want to use chemicals to rid myself of these ghastly weeds and would love suggestions as to how to kill a lot of weeds at one time and one spray. Kikuyu is an extremely hardy weed and very difficult to kill. As I do not like chemicals because of the residual factor in my vegetables I would be very grateful for any tips. Thank you for your suggestions.

Hardiness Zone:

Ang from New Zealand

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I'm in Toronto, Canada. I just bought a house that has cherry trees, apples, plums planted but not in good shape. Being a novice, I am struggling to read up or seek advice from experts like you.

1. Cherry trees blossomed well but the fruit as it ripened (blackened) covered up in fungus. Even those without fungus on top had a small white insect inside them. What measures could betaken to cure/prevent such in next season on the same trees?

2. The plum tree has the base almost rotten away. It gave fruit this year but fruits are not ripening.

3. The grape vine has bunches of green grapes with some of them going dark.

Appreciate your time and nay help you could provide,

Thanks,
Nusrat from Toronto, Canada

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I planted tomatoes from seeds in May. The plants have lots of blossoms but there is only one green tomato on only one of the 7 plants. Is there something that I should do to stimulate the plants? Thanks for your suggestions.

Hardiness Zone: 7a

Josie from Tulsa, Oklahoma

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I have Sweet Potato Squash planted in a large pot. They are making plenty of flowers but no squash. No bees?

Hardiness Zone: 9a

Deborah from Lafayette, LA

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I recently planted one of those "flower carpets" and ended up with very tall sunflower plants. I love them, but don't know anything about growing them. Do I cut the plants back at some point, will they come back into bloom every year, etc?

Hardiness Zone: 11

BARBARA from LONG BEACH, CA

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I have a three year old Crape Myrtle (Tonto) that has a fork at it's base. The tree split and fell to the ground due to the weight of the water from sprinkling. I staked the split back together with heavy duty wire. Is there a type of wrap that I can use to possibly save my tree? There are three main branches that go into the ground. The tree is approximately four feet high. Athough the tree is split, the main branch is still intact. I desparetly want to save this tree. Thanks.

Hardiness Zone: 7a

Larry from Princess Anne, MD

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Today I took some sweet gum balls from a tree that my late father had planted some 40-50 years ago. I thought it would be neat to have a tree that was a direct descendant of a tree planted by him. The gum balls are green. Can you tell me what I need to do to produce a sweet gum tree including getting the seeds from the gum ball to when and where to plant? Thanks so much!

Hardiness Zone: 6a

G. Brent from St. Louis, MO

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I am moving and have had a tomato plant come up in my front yard for the past 3 years. My mother says it is called a "Tommy Tomato". Itty-Bitty tomatoes and takes a lot of my front flower garden space. A wonderful bird must have dropped over some left-over tomato seeds for my plant to grow.

Anyway, We are moving soon and I want to know how to take this plant with me? It just started growing for year. Can anyone tell me how to replant this plant in our new house?? FYI, I am almost gardening stonedumb.

Hardiness Zone: 8a

Thanks for your help!
Kellee from Texas

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I'm not sure that this really falls under the gardening category but I need fast thrifty tips on how to get rid of termites! I noticed the tree in my front yard was dying and I looked at it yesterday and there was mud packed on the side of it. I scraped some off and underneath were thousands of termites eating away. I've also found a large number of "mud tubes" in my yard and when I clear them, there are termites inside.

I live paycheck to paycheck (very low income) and cannot afford a pest control company to treat this. Does anyone have a thrifty, homemade tip that might help with this. I'm so afraid they will make their way into my house if they haven't already and my skin is already crawling just thinking about it. Thanks for any help you can provide.

Hardiness Zone: 7a

Cjdnnm from Roswell, NM

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Is dog poop bad for grass?

Hardiness Zone: 8b

Ranjiv from Dublin

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How do you kill Pachysandra?

Hardiness Zone: 6b

Leenie From Fairfield, NH

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This is my first time growing gourds some of them are starting to turn white. Is this normal or am I doing something wrong?

Hardiness Zone: 5a

Karon from Paxton, IL

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I have a hydrangea bush and the flowers on it are beginning to turn a brownish color. I know you aren't supposed to cut the branches because the plant won't bloom the following year. I am wondering though, should i cut off the dead looking "flowers" or just leave them alone? I am not sure if I live in zone 7a or 7b. I live in Delaware. Thanks for any help you can provide.

Hardiness Zone: 7a

P.J. from Delaware

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Just wondering if anyone knows a web site that I could use to identify my house plants. I have no idea what the name of my plants are and would like some info on when to repot, water ect.

Thanks,
Tami from Charleston, SC

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I have a spot on the lawn. We are in a new home and the front lawn was sodded last summer. There is a patch of brown grass in the very middle of the front yard that goes brown, then greens up a little after a heavy watering or rain. We regularly water the whole yard so we can't figure out what is causing this. It's not grubs. Could there have been an excess of rocks or pea gravel left under this sod when planted that would cause the grass in this one area to brown. It's about 3 feet in diameter an is almost circular in shape. What can we do to keep this area green?

Thanks for any and all suggestions!

Hardiness Zone: 6a

Marianne from Trenton, OH

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My zucchini is being eaten by some kind of worm coming up through the main root, killing the plant and then moves on to the next. What can be done?

Hardiness Zone: 5a

Susan from Leon, Iowa

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The Happy Garden Newsletter - August 3, 2006 | ThriftyFun

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