Ask John

Endless Summer should be pruned immediately after flower if you want to have flowers next year as they bloom on old wood. In the case of limelight the time to prune is in the late winter as these produce flowers on new growth.. As for daffodils and tulips you can purchase them now and refrigerate them until planting. I have waited as long as the first week of January but for me anytime after Thanksgiving is good for the metro area.

If you move them this winter say late December or early Jauuary you might not miss their late winter blooms. At transplanting I would remove all the old or ugly leaves. It is one of my favorites

There are several answers to your question. If the plants are the size you want them then remove the long new shoots at the point of origin on the plant. If the plants are still not the size you desire you have two options this time of the year. You can cut these shoots off(at the point they sprouted from another limb) or you can leave them alone and this will help the eleagnus continue to enlarge in size. Even if you want the plant to get bigger I like to remove the late summer and early fall shoots that appear where the plant will look better in winter and allow the spring shoots to give me more size. So as you can see it depends on what you want the plant to do but one thing is for sure you can count them to shoot up new stems every year.

I wish that was unusual but it happens so much especially when we have a wet period followed by a dry period. This is especially true with trees that have grown well for years and seem to be the perfect tree. I have seen this over and over all across the metro area and in fact the same thing happened in my yard. Excellent replacements include Mary Neil hollies and Nellie R. Stevens hollies but there is not a match tree to your cypress trees that I can guarantee will not have the same problem

Yes, but I would wait until early spring right before they start putting out new leaves.

Right now, it is probably too late in the season. In early spring I suggest you treat with Bayer Three-in-One Tree and Shrub that you apply around the plant for general all season control.If want to treat now please call Dr Jacobi at the Hanna Center at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens for his specific recommendation at this time of the year as I have no idea.

They are called growth retardants but there is not one that works for all plants. If you want to use one I suggest you check with Dr Jacobi at the Hanna Center at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens.

Needlepoint holly responds well to drastic pruning but I would do it in late winter. You can cut them literally to with in a foot off the ground and a new shrub will grow. You can shaped and sized the pruned plant as it grows out how you desire. Remember that these hollies are generally 8 to 10 feet tall at maturity if left unpruned.

Basically they light part sun to high filtered shade to not have the leaves that look like they are washed out-john

No, but just remember you are cutting off spring blooms when you prune it.

The residue you describe is probably a spittle bug but they are probably not the biggest cause for your troubles. My first guess is that it is a flying insect or grasshoppers. Dusting the plants with sevin is oftentimes an effective control. If this does not work I will need to see a picture ofthe plant and a picture of the gummy mass you are talking about.

Well, a friend of mine, just today said he had to cut two down over the weekend. Dogwoods have several problems but the most common is a dogwood borer which is generally enters the trunk and will kill the tree eventually if not removed. Also there is a petal blight that affects the blossoms and will eventually kill the tree. And finally if they are too wet over a period of time or too dry especially going into winter this can hurt them enough to eventually kill them.

I would haul it off.Sweetgum is not a good tree to grind and use for mulch and if you want to use it for mulch it will need to age before applying.

Here are a few in various sizes. All types of Magnolias like moist to wet soil. A great shrub is Clethra and for a great perennial try Siberian iris. Hydrangeas like well drained soil with some degree of moisture. As for a ground cover I think liriope is hard to kill. If you could be more specific of what you want perhaps I could produce a list for you to choose.

Of course you can use the “leaves” to season things but the general rule is when the fennel bulb gets the size of a tennis ball it is ready for harvest. Probably it will be mid to late summer this year. As for the cauliflower, beets, etc depending on the heat I will plant sometime in September around the 15th when the nights begin to be cooler.