Should I cut back my Spirea shrubs?

QuestionIm in northeast Iowa (zone 4). We had a few 60-80 degree days in late March or early April and my Goldmound Spirea started leafing out. Then we were hammered with snow and cold. The leaves werent all the way

Laurel problems

QuestionI live in Salt Lake City, Utah and have about 20 or so large laurels along my backyard fence (I am not sure of the specific species). A few look relatively healthy but most of them have brown, dry, and

planting holly schrubs

QuestionHow should I plant holly shrubs in clay soil? AnswerRhonda, Hollies do best in well drained soil, so if you are going to plant them in a clay soil I would recommend making the hole 2-3 times larger than th

China Girl Holly dying

QuestionI have sevral hollies that appear to be dying...in fact one is completely dead. The leaves turn brown...they dont necessarily fall off. The other hollys leaves are beginning to turn brown also. The leaves tu

Pruning Dwarf Globe Blue Spruce

QuestionHello Edward, We moved into our Cincinnati home last year filled with abundant plant life well taken care of! Our landscaper will not trim what I believe to be our Dwarf Globe Blue Spruces. We have 3 of them

forest flame plant

Questionmy forest flame went all dry and crisp is there anything i can do AnswerWendy, I would recommend that you check to see if it still alive by cutting a small branch from an inconspicuous spot on the pl

dying English laurels

QuestionWe have an informal hedge of 30 English laurels about 10 years old. Several are now dying; leaves yellow and fall off, no new spring growth. This happened a limb at a time, not outer to inner, ol

barberry

QuestionI have some small barberrys. I thought the leaves are supposed to be a dark green to deep purple red. Mine have bright grren leaves more the color of a boxwood. Is this a soil related condition that I can tr

Cutting back Lemon Tree

QuestionI have a lemon tree in my yard that appears to be a dwarf for it is only 6 or so. I am told it has been here for years so Im assuming it is mature. It is really overgrown and needs to be shaped. Can y

transplanted crepe myrtle dying or in shock?

Question4/25/07-As a New Yorker (living in MS now), I have always transplanted things constantly. Last fall, I transplanted a full grown Crepe Myrtle tree next to the others. All have leaves except the transplanted

Hydrngea

QuestionWe moved our Hydrangea in for the winter (North Central MN.) and it grew about 2 feet. It is now starting to droop quite a bit as we moved it back onto our deck. Can/should it be pruned back? If so, any tips

American arbovitaes

QuestionI have planted a row of 5-6 ft American arbovitaes two weeks ago facing west. They appear to be healthy at first. However, this week some of the leaves are turning yellow and drying out. &n

Caribbean Copper Plant

QuestionQUESTION: Hi Edward, I have a few Caribbean Copper Plants in Los Angeles, and we had a particularly cold (freezing) winter this year. They are deciduous, but the leaves dont seem to be coming back now.

Spring freeze Atlanta, GA - Crepe Myrtle

QuestionOr should I say re-freeze? Well, I live in Georgia and this spring did my prunning when the temerature got up to about 70. After prunning the crepes started to grow very well. Low and behold we got a late sp

small whte flying bugs on Gardenia

QuestionHi, We have a rather large gardenia bush with lost of tiny flying white bugs on it. This is our first spring in this home, and noticed them this week. During summer of last year no bugs; no bugs

Dwaft Peach Tree

QuestionI believe it is called a dwarf peach tree. It has purple leaves and little fuzzy peach like buds and pink flowers in the spring. Here is my dilemma how do I know if I am over watering? The leaves seem to be

forsynthia bush

QuestionMy son wants to remove a forsythia bush which must be at least 10 years old. It has never really thrived, but it has never hand any real care to it life. He want to pull it out with a tractor. I want the bus

Winter Injury to Holly

QuestionI saw your answer to David including winter injury. I think this has happened to 2 of my 4 holly bushes. What is winter injury? How can I try to revive these bushes? Is there any way to avoid it in

Skimmia Japonica

QuestionI recently planted Hydrangeas in my front garden but I wanted a small evergreen to plant among them so that my garden wasnt empty in the winter. The nursery suggested Dwarf Male Skimmia Japonica. For now the

very sad looking azaleas

QuestionI live in Mid-Michigan and my azaleas are not looking so great. Its May 1st and I expected more green by now. They bloomed great last year. I did not prune them. So, have I ruined the