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June 1, 2006 Hortiscope
Q: Three trees in my front lawn were uprooted during a storm last August. The trees were removed after a couple of days. As a result, my lawn is now bumpy and very uneven. What is the best and easiest way to smooth out my lawn? Do I have to till and replant the grass or can I simply add topsoil and reseed? Grass is growing, but will not be easy to mow because of the uneven yard. I’d appreciate your help and love your Web site! (Brooklyn Park, Minn.)
Q: Three or four years ago, I moved a small sapling growing in our yard to a bed along the side of my house. It is a great tree, but I’d like to move it to a spot that would give us some much-needed shade. It’s about 16 feet tall. How wide and deep should I plan for the size of the rootball? (e-mail reference)
Q: I have six hybrid roses that I planted along the fence of my front yard. I tried to use a plant screen to keep the grass down, but it got infested with ants, so I took it out and mulched it. Now the grass is really growing around the roses. I need a suggestion as to what will kill the grass, but not hurt the roses. (e-mail reference)
Q: I don't want suckering plants that are hard to control. Will Hansen's bush cherries sucker? I haven't found anything on the Web that specifically addresses this issue. I've planted two Montmorency cherries and two North Star cherries. Thanks to your Web pages, I just returned two Canada red chokecherries because of the terrible time many people seem to have with black knot disease. However, with two different types of sour cherries and with the potential for me to also plant another prunus in the Hansen's bush cherry, will the density of the prunus species make them more at risk for diseases such as black knot? We're in a new housing development, so there are not many trees. (e-mail reference)
Q: I've researched, with no luck, to find out if it is safe to have arborvitae in a horse pasture. (e-mail reference)
Q: I’ve had problems with my strawberry plants for the last four years. I have used Roundup and started over. I also have powdered the plants with Sevin. Last year I noticed a lot of ants in the plants and roots. I treated the plants to kill the ants and did not eat any of the fruit because of all the chemicals I used. I also noticed an ant problem in my grass. I am very frustrated and this year the strawberries are looking terrible right from the start. I pulled a few plants and noticed ants on the roots again. Do you have any suggestions? I would appreciate any advice. (e-mail reference)
Q: A large limb broke off of our maple tree during the 2005 Thanksgiving ice storm. It ripped the bark off the trunk as it came down. The tree has leafed out. Should we try to paint the large wound? If so, what kind of paint should we use? I looked at a small can of pruning paint and laughed. I would need a case of it. Thanks! (e-mail reference)
Q: I have a question about cutting lilacs from a bush and putting them in a vase. What is the best way to help them last longer? Do I need to put anything in the water? I have a lilac bush and tulips that I put in the same vase because the flowers make my house smell great, but I want to know what would make the flowers last longer. (e-mail reference)
Q: I love flowers, but I am not very knowledgeable about them. Last summer I bought a calla lily plant that had some flowers growing. It continued to grow quite nicely! At the end of June, I left for a week. When I got back, the plant was seriously lacking water. I tried and tried to help it, but I thought for sure it was a lost cause. About two weeks ago, I purchased a clematis to plant in that same pot I used last year for the lily plant. While digging the hole to plant it, I hit a bulb. It was moist and had many roots coming out of it. As I continued to poke around, I found three more and one really tiny bulb. They all had roots growing out of them and they were fairly moist. I had thought that spring was the time for lilies to be growing out of the dirt, so I am not sure if these bulbs are healthy. I repotted all of the bulbs in two pots. What do you think my chances are of these bulbs producing plants and flowering? If you think it is a strong possibility, when do you think I can expect to see something? (e-mail reference)
Q: For Easter, I received a lovely basket containing daffodils, hyacinth and tulips. The flowers have now died. Can I transplant them in my yard for next year? If so, how would I go about doing this? They are in little, individual pots. I don't know if I made a mistake, but I did cut the dead flowers off. I thought I read somewhere that if you leave the flowers on, the plants will start to seed, therefore not giving any nourishment to the bulb for next year. Should I dump the plants or is there still hope? (e-mail reference)
Q: I have three large spruce trees in my front yard that have been diagnosed with spider mites. I also have a blue spruce and another spruce tree in the side yard. We love these trees for the privacy they provide. The three large trees were planted in the 1950s. We would hate to lose these trees because there's no way they could be replaced. I'm guessing they are 50 to 60 feet tall. We were given an estimate from the company to apply a commercial insecticide. The insecticide would be applied twice, 14 days apart. What is the appropriate treatment for spruce spider mites? Is this something we can purchase and apply ourselves? The problem is getting access to the tops of the trees. Also, should I be concerned about these pests migrating to other trees? What is the life expectancy of these trees? I'm hoping they will be around long after I'm gone. (e-mail reference)
Q: I'm a novice gardener and recently came across your Web site. I started tomatoes from seed and on the package it said to transplant the seedlings once they had two pairs of leaves. I planted all of the seeds in one big pot because I didn't anticipate that all of them would come up! I waited until they had two pairs of leaves, which I assumed were the first leaves and then the true leaves. The first leaves have started yellowing and I'm worried that I might have killed my plants. Should I have waited longer? Any advice you might have on growing tomatoes from seed would be much appreciated. (e-mail reference)
Q: I'm interested in getting a peace lily. I have a dog, so I’m wondering if peace lilies are poisonous to dogs. The dog tends to chew on everything, so I wanted to make sure before I bought the plant. (e-mail reference)
Q: I would like to know how to start a new bush from a very old hydrangea bush that my grandmother had. It is at least 50 years old and still growing. (e-mail reference)
Q: I have some questions regarding crown of thorns and mammilaria pilcayensis. My crown of thorns is growing wonderfully and getting new leaves, but not blooming. I fertilized it recently and it sits at a west window. The mammilaria also is at the west window. It is growing, but not blooming. I water them every two weeks with a special fertilizer for cacti. What can I do to make them bloom? (e-mail reference)
### Source: Ron
Smith, (701) 231-8161, ronsmith@ndsuext.nodak.edu |
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North Dakota State University |
