Boxwood pruning, and May fairs, sales & tours

QUESTION: Our boxwoods have a few limbs at the bottom that have lost their leaves and appear dead. Is it safe to trim boxwoods at this time of year? If the limbs are dead, cut them off. No matter what time of year it is, dead limbs serve no useful purpose. If the rest of [...]

Definitely not stars in your lawn

QUESTION: Every year, the small white flowers called star-of-Bethlehem pop up in our lawn. The flowers are cute, but they’re everywhere! It makes an ugly lawn. How can I get rid of it? This time of year, star-of-Bethlehem shoots up in lawns, on creek banks, in wild meadows. They are indeed everywhere – even in [...]

Banish the Bradford pear

QUESTION: When should Bradford pear trees be pruned? Is now a good time? How far back should you prune them?   I’ll answer the last question first, and echo the thoughts of many landscape and forestry experts who believe that these trees should get just one pruning cut – about an inch above the ground. [...]

Cover the ground, not the daffodils

QUESTION: What groundcovers can be used that will allow daffodils to come up in the spring? Several plants used as groundcover permit spring-flower bulbs to grow through. Nashville-area garden specialists offer a few recommendations: Ajuga, or bugleweed (Ajuga reptans). To some people this is a nice groundcover, to others it’s a weedy nuisance. It can [...]

Don’t worry about the daffodils

It’s only January, and the daffodils in my yard are already coming up! How do I keep them from freezing? It may seem too early for this unmistakable sign of spring, but it’s not unusual for the shoots of early daffodils to begin pushing up through the ground. In some places, they started coming up [...]

Making plans for a great year in the garden

QUESTION: What are YOUR garden goals for 2012? Here are mine: -Grow more flowers. In my yard, that means finding more flowers that thrive in the semi-shade that’s provided by the graceful maples and the giant, beautiful elm tree in our back yard. -Keep trying for better success with tomatoes. That means figuring out how to [...]

O, Christmas pine

QUESTION: I’m using a Norfolk Island pine as a small Christmas tree. What do I need to do to keep it looking nice, and how do I care for it when the holidays are over? Norfolk Island pine provides a nice alternative to the big tree at Christmas, especially if your space is small or [...]

Poinsettias in the spotlight

QUESTION: I like to decorate with poinsettias for Christmas. What’s the best way to keep them looking good from now until New Year’s? Poinsettias are a tropical plant, native to Mexico, so the first thing to remember is to keep them out of the extreme weather. If it’s a cold day when you bring them [...]

Just water, please

Last summer, when it was very hot, I ran my dehumidifer upstairs when it was impossible to cool and used the water to water my indoor plants. Within a week or so they perked up like they were new plants, so I’m wondering how to duplicate that water, or what do you suggest? I have tried [...]

Come in out of the cold

QUESTION: I would  like to know how to “winter over” geraniums. By now, anything you want to save from frost should be indoors. So, now that they’re already inside, here are general guidelines for keeping geraniums happy. These tips are from garden author Barbara Pleasant’s book The Complete Houseplant Survival Manual: Ideally, you would have [...]