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Hello, on Saturday, we lost half of our garden to a ground hog. We had a rabbit fence up but somehow ‘Phil’ got into it. He didn’t go under it and I don’t think he can fit through it. Well today during the six o’clock hour, we lost the other half of the garden except for the red bell pepper. What would you recommend we do to win our battle against Phil? Also, do you think that some of ours plants will battle on? He ate pumpkin, squash, lettuce, tomato, and celery. The vines are still there but not much else…

April 10, 2014 Comments Off on Hello, on Saturday, we lost half of our garden to a ground hog. We had a rabbit fence up but somehow ‘Phil’ got into it. He didn’t go under it and I don’t think he can fit through it. Well today during the six o’clock hour, we lost the other half of the garden except for the red bell pepper. What would you recommend we do to win our battle against Phil? Also, do you think that some of ours plants will battle on? He ate pumpkin, squash, lettuce, tomato, and celery. The vines are still there but not much else…

I’m always sad to hear of this situation but many of us have hade the same thing happen at one time or another. Let’s start with the fence. A fence can exclude a woodchuck (groundhog). […]

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I planted a red bee balm in my garden. I water it at night after the sun is gone from that area of the garden, a few days ago, before this intense heat, it starting looking funny, loosing it’s bottom leaves, the top leaves have a greyish tint the them, almost looks like dust. It is in full sun and I don’t water it every night just when its really hot or we haven’t had rain for a while. Do you have any suggestions to save it. Thanks, Dotty

April 10, 2014 Comments Off on I planted a red bee balm in my garden. I water it at night after the sun is gone from that area of the garden, a few days ago, before this intense heat, it starting looking funny, loosing it’s bottom leaves, the top leaves have a greyish tint the them, almost looks like dust. It is in full sun and I don’t water it every night just when its really hot or we haven’t had rain for a while. Do you have any suggestions to save it. Thanks, Dotty

OK, first of all, stop watering in the evening or at night. If you water at night and get the leaves of the plant wet they will take longer to dry thus providing an extended […]

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I have 2 Mulberry trees, 1 red, 1 white under which I’d like to plant something perennial and hardy. Right now, I’m dealing with an ugly, almost bare lawn because, of course, nothing grows really well with almost no sun. Am I limited to hostas or do I even have that option? Are there any other options?

April 10, 2014 Comments Off on I have 2 Mulberry trees, 1 red, 1 white under which I’d like to plant something perennial and hardy. Right now, I’m dealing with an ugly, almost bare lawn because, of course, nothing grows really well with almost no sun. Am I limited to hostas or do I even have that option? Are there any other options?

K., First I’d like to dispel the idea that “of course, nothing grows really well with almost no sun.” I’m sure that it seems that way because it IS difficult to grow a lawn or […]

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I bought a Mallow Hibiscus, just about 3 weeks ago. I read on the Internet that they like lots of water. I made sure I watered it at 8am when I went to work and again, around 8 at night to make sure it had plenty, but it is turning all brown Can you give me any suggestions? I have it in front of my house, that gets all day sun, it that the problem? When I bought it, I noticed you had it in front so I thought that would be ok Marlyn

April 10, 2014 Comments Off on I bought a Mallow Hibiscus, just about 3 weeks ago. I read on the Internet that they like lots of water. I made sure I watered it at 8am when I went to work and again, around 8 at night to make sure it had plenty, but it is turning all brown Can you give me any suggestions? I have it in front of my house, that gets all day sun, it that the problem? When I bought it, I noticed you had it in front so I thought that would be ok Marlyn

Marlyn, Mallow hibiscus do indeed enjoy full sun. While you need to make sure that the soil stays constantly moist it is possible that you’ve been giving it too much water and the roots are […]

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I am a pretty new vegetable gardener. Last year something kept making little bore holes into my peppers. Not into the stem, but the fruit itself. The holes were little, maybe a few millimeters in diameter. I just found the same type of hole in a very timy start of a pepper. I haven’t found any worms/caterpillars/bugs around to explain it. Any suggestions? I have not used any type of insecticide so far, but since I am a little more experienced, I want to try a lttle harder!

April 10, 2014 Comments Off on I am a pretty new vegetable gardener. Last year something kept making little bore holes into my peppers. Not into the stem, but the fruit itself. The holes were little, maybe a few millimeters in diameter. I just found the same type of hole in a very timy start of a pepper. I haven’t found any worms/caterpillars/bugs around to explain it. Any suggestions? I have not used any type of insecticide so far, but since I am a little more experienced, I want to try a lttle harder!

Welcome to the world of vegetable gardening. Kudos to you for not getting discouraged by last year’s lousy growing season From your description and the timing (small fruit stage) I’d surmise that you are having […]

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2 questions Why are our squash plants only getting false blossom flowers and no squash buds? How long does it take for potatoes to be ready to dig or how can we tell when to dig them up? Thank you

April 10, 2014 Comments Off on 2 questions Why are our squash plants only getting false blossom flowers and no squash buds? How long does it take for potatoes to be ready to dig or how can we tell when to dig them up? Thank you

The problem with squash, cukes and other curcurbit producing flowers but no fruit can usually be traced to water washing the pollen out of the flowers before bees and other pollinators can pollinate the flower. […]

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is it too late right now (June 27) to prune a lilac tree or a hemlock tree. My hemlock tree is dead on the bottom but has branches growing up on the top. someone told me to cut the whole thing down and it would fill in on the bottom better.

April 10, 2014 Comments Off on is it too late right now (June 27) to prune a lilac tree or a hemlock tree. My hemlock tree is dead on the bottom but has branches growing up on the top. someone told me to cut the whole thing down and it would fill in on the bottom better.

You can prune your lilac now without any problems. The best time to prune a lilac is right after the flowers have finished. Lilacs form buds this summer that winter over and open in spring. […]

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I bought some shallot plants at the beginning of June. I transplanted them into a garden plot. It then rained for almost two weeks straight. The green shoots on one plant have all turned brown and shriveled up, the other plant is mostly brown. Every where i look online it says they are ready to harvest when this happens. I dont think they transplanted well. What do i do?

April 10, 2014 Comments Off on I bought some shallot plants at the beginning of June. I transplanted them into a garden plot. It then rained for almost two weeks straight. The green shoots on one plant have all turned brown and shriveled up, the other plant is mostly brown. Every where i look online it says they are ready to harvest when this happens. I dont think they transplanted well. What do i do?

Ugh…what a bummer. It sounds as though they must’ve rotted in the rain. Had they been planted a little earlier and had a chance to start growing they might have been handle the rain better. […]

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I want to plant either a Burbank Plum or Bing Cherry tree. Can either fruit tree be planted in two’s to pollinate each other or do both need a different variety to pollinate each other?

April 10, 2014 Comments Off on I want to plant either a Burbank Plum or Bing Cherry tree. Can either fruit tree be planted in two’s to pollinate each other or do both need a different variety to pollinate each other?

Bing Cherry and Burbank plums will not pollinate each other. Bing Cherry tree will need another sweet cherry tree to pollinate it. Black Tartarian wouldbe a good choice to pollinate Bing. Sour cherry varieties will […]

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