Annuals • Bulbs • Composting • Diseases • Fruit • Herbs • Insects & Pests • Lawns & Groundcovers • Maintenance • Miscellaneous • Perennials • Roses • Shrubs • Trees • Vegetables • Vines • Weeds
Annuals
Bulbs
Composting
- Do you know anything about worm bins?
- Can fruit tree leaves that have insect or disease problems be put in the compost?
- Can I put the leaves from my fruit trees in my compost pile even though the fruit from those trees was wormy this season or should I burn them instead?
- How can I reduce the odour coming from my compost pile?
- Is it okay to put diseased plants in my compost pile?
- Can deer manure be put in the compost or used directly on a garden?
Diseases
- Can you compost tomatoes or green peppers with blossom end rot? What if they’ve already started to rot on the vine from other organisms that have moved in in the wake of the blossom end rot? Does that change anything?
(Added September 16, 2011) - What do I do about peach leaf curl?
- My three-year-old raspberry patch is showing signs of root rot. What can I do at this point to correct the problem?
- What can I do about grey mould on my strawberries?
- Why are the tops of my onion bulbs rotting?
- Why does one of my honeysuckles get powdery mildew every year and the other one doesn't?
- How do I stop sow bugs from eating my plants?
- My maple leaves are covered with powdery mildew even though I’ve cut back on watering. How do I get rid of it?
- What can I do to control blossom end rot in my tomatoes?
- Powdery mildew is showing up in an area of my garden that gets very little water. How can I get rid of it?
- My walnut tree is showing signs of dieback as are several others in the area. Could Thousand Cankers disease be the cause?
Fruit
- How do I prune my gooseberry bushes? (Added April 1, 2011)
- I just planted a sour cherry tree. Do I need to prune it this year? (Added March 18, 2011)
- Do I remove the flower stalk from my rhubarb?
- How do I know when my melons are ripe?
- Do I need to prune my raspberries?
- Do I prune fall-bearing raspberries the same way I prune June-bearers?
- Why are my peaches small even though I thin the fruit?
- Can you recommend a type of apple tree that would be good on a small property?
- How do I support thornless blackberries and when is the best time of year to prune them?
- How do you prepare strawberry beds for the winter? Do you cut off all the foliage before you cover them with straw?
- Should raspberry canes be pruned to ground level or should they be pruned to six inches above ground level?
- I have 2 gooseberry bushes which have grown very large and have lots of foliage but no berries. Last year I cut them back but they are even worse this year! I'm not sure if I should abandon them or if this situation can be rectified. Advice? (Added July 29, 2011)
Herbs
Insects & Pests
- The leaves on my apple tree are skeletonized and covered with lots of webs and white cocoons. What's causing this? (Added September 2, 2011)
- Do those motion-detecting sprinklers really keep deer at bay?
- What can I do about the slugs that are devouring my hostas?
- How do I attract bees to my property?
- There are black worms crawling all over my pear tree and they seem to be eating the leaves. Do you know what they are and how I can get rid of them?
- How do I get rid of the white worms that are attacking the roots of my broccoli?
- Why are aphids attacking my viburnums year after year even though I spray them?
- My cabbages have big holes in the leaves and I’m finding green caterpillars on the underside of the leaves. What are they and what can I do about them?
- I have four apple trees on my property and I’m interested in spraying them myself. I read in the Creston Valley Advance that an organic spray for coddling moth has been approved. Do you know the name of it?
- What can I do about spittlebugs?
- How can I control slug damage?
- Do wasps serve any useful purpose in the garden?
- How do I attract butterflies to my garden?
- How do I get rid of all the ants that are coming in from the garden?
- Are the bee deaths that I have been reading about for the past year something to be concerned about?
- Is there any plant I can grow to keep the mosquitoes away?
- How do I stop voles from eating my potatoes?
Lawns & Groundcovers
- Can you give me the names of some plants I can use as a groundcover for a dry, sunny bank that I don't have to water?
- Dog urine is killing my lawn and even some of my garden. What do I do about it?
- I have moss in my lawn. I have used sprays and even replaced the sod only to find it keeps coming back. Do you have any suggestions?
- How do I get the moss out of my lawn?
- What groundcover can I put in the shade?
Maintenance
- What is the best kind of sprinkler to use for watering a garden?
- Do I need to replace all the soil in my pots, or is some of last year's OK to leave in?
- What is the benefit of growing cover crops?
- I would like to plant a cover crop in my garden this fall. What do I plant, how do I plant it and when do I work it in?
- I'd like to convert my vegetable garden into raised beds with micro-sprinklers, use hay for the walkways in-between those beds, then work the decomposed hay into the raised beds at the end of the growing season. Is this a good idea?
- I put manure on my garden last year and my plants turned yellow. Any idea why?
- Which is the better fertilizer, compost or manure?
- I’d like to have a drought-tolerant garden, but I find most drought-tolerant plants ugly. Do you have any suggestions?
- I read somewhere that you shouldn't put peat moss in your garden. Is this true?
- I would like to build raised garden beds for my vegetables and someone told me I shouldn’t use pressure-treated lumber. Is that true?
Miscellaneous
Perennials
- I read somewhere that daylily flowers are edible. Is this true?
- Is there anything I can do to stop my Ligularia from wilting in the afternoons?
- Is this a good time to divide irises?
- I planted a peony five years ago and although it has a lot of really healthy leaves, it has never bloomed. Any idea why?
- No matter what I do with my delphiniums, I still end up having to replace them every few years. Is there some trick I'm missing?
- Is it too early to transplant perennials?
- Should I cut back my perennials before winter or leave them until spring?
- Can you recommend an ornamental grass that I can grow in the shade?
- Why did I lose so many perennials last winter when the weather was so mild?
- What types of plants can be used in a rock garden?
- My bee balm has a lot of leaves that are turning yellow or brown and it’s definitely dying in the centre. Any ideas why?
- What is the difference between a tree peony and a regular one?
- I planted dahlias for the first time this year. Do I really need to dig them up and store them for the winter?
- I'd like to put some plants in my garden that flower in the autumn. What are my options?
Roses
Shrubs
- When is a good time to prune a lilac?
- Is it possible to rejuvenate an overgrown butterfly bush?
- I have an overgrown mugho pine in my front border. Is it okay to prune it?
(Updated July 8, 2011) - I have an overgrown shrub in my backyard that I’d like to prune. Can you tell me how to do it?
- Why would one cedar in my hedge suddenly die?
- Can a mugho pine be pruned in the winter?
(Added November 26, 2010)
- Deer are determined to prune the bottom four feet of my cedars. Is there anything I can do to stop them?
- Deer have basically eaten all the greenery from my cedars and left broken branches. Is there any chance they will regrow? (Added July 15, 2011)
Trees
- My garden is bright and sunny in spring but once my Japanese maple leafs out, it becomes quite shady. How do I know what plants will grow well?
- Is there a purple-leafed tree other than a red maple that I can use to spice up my yard?
- Can you suggest a tree for a small yard?
- My walnut tree has many limbs without leaves or new growth this summer due to dieback. Should I prune out these dead limbs or will they spring to life next year?
- Is there anything I can do to prevent my dwarf Alberta spruce from burning this winter?
- What is the best way to harvest and store hazelnuts and walnuts?
Vegetables
- I planted the cloves from two large garlic bulbs this spring and the summer was terrible - all rain and very cool temps. It was at least the middle of June or later when they actually started to send up any green shoots. Should I leave them in the ground and hope they will form cloves next spring or dig them up, let them dry out, and replant them next year? (Added October 28, 2011)
- What are the best vegetables to grow when you have limited space?
- Is it okay to broadcast carrot seeds instead of planting them in rows?
- Is there a good reason for growing marigolds in a vegetable garden?
- Is it true that someone has invented red carrots?
- Why are my zucchinis producing only male flowers?
- Can you tell me why my squash and cucumber leaves are suddenly turning white?
- How do I know when my potatoes are ready to harvest?
- When is a good time to plant fall vegetables?
- Why didn't my garlic bulbs form cloves?
- Each year my eggplants produce lots of flowers but no fruit. Why?
- Is now a good time to plant onions and garlic?
- What is the difference between summer and winter squash?
- How can I keep my vegetable garden going past frost?
- Is it too late to plant garlic?
- Is it better to plant potatoes in mounds or rows?
- Can I grow corn on a small property?
- How do I grow lots of vegetables in the garden the size of a postage stamp?
- What are the best vegetables to grow in pots on my balcony?
- I planted five squash at the same location in my garden where I had a superb crop last year. This year, I'm get lots of blossoms, good growth, but no fruit. Why, and what can I do?
- I just harvested my garlic and they look normal in every way except they have little to no skin. Why would that be? (Added August 3, 2011)
Vines
- Is it okay to use copper pipe to support a wisteria?
- When do I prune my clematis?
- I have a couple of climbing hydrangeas that I planted this spring and I want to move them to a shadier spot, but I’m wondering if I should move them this fall or in the spring. What do you recommend?
- I've been trying for years to get my wisteria to bloom, but all I get is green, leafy growth. Any ideas?
- How can I stop my trumpet vine from suckering?
Weeds
- How do I get clover out of my garden?
- Any thoughts on how to control quackgrass?
- Can I get rid of quack grass by turning over the soil and letting the sun dry out the roots?
- Is landscape fabric a good way to control weeds?
- How do I get rid of horsetail?
Copyright 2009 - 2011 Vanessa Farnsworth