Steven Nikkila

We have a native Euonymus obovatus that is not evergreen but usually doesn't climb trees, so yours is probably Euonymus fortunei which is evergreen but when exposed it may loose it's leaves and grow new ones every year. Here's some tree that are definitely stressed by the Euonymus growing up them, so thining the older vines out are a good idea if you want the look of the vine climbing the trees and not cause problems for the tree.

The "round-up/brush-be-gone" applied the way Margaret does it, she paints the cut stump with the chemical rather than spraying it, should not effect the trees roots. I'm sure the roots are entwined but the chemical does not move from one plant species roots to another's roots. The ivy climbs the tree by it's aerial roots that cling to the trunk of the tree, the older stems of poison ivy look hairy.

The photography term 'Depth of Field' refers to how much of the photograph is in focus. Depth of field is achieved by using the aperture (f-stop, the opening in the lenses that lets the light hit the film plane/sensor to create the photo). The smaller the aperture the more depth of field. The depth of field in the photo below is shallow or narrow, only a little of the flower (Cherokee Sunset dogwood) is truly in sharp focus. The photo below has deeper depth of field, more of the flower is in focus. When taking close-ups like this the depth of field is going to be narrow even at the smallest aperture opening. Here's a part of a handout that I have for the Photography classes I give that helps explain f-stop.

What you need is a hedge on stilts for an immediate screen, or even for one that can grow to your satisfaction in just a few years. Any shrubs you plant will screen ground level right away but will take two or more years to reach and screen the height you need -- by which time they'll be so wide you'll be cursing them for filling all the available space and croading the walk too. Put a stake in the ground a few feet off the walk way so you can guage the height you need, and then look at garden centers for round crowned trees (species with a natural habit of spreading rather than ascending branches). Look for what they have that is a good size now or soo, to put a screen up into the air where you need it. You can put a bed under it and fill it wit pretty things that will draw your eye down, but they won't be part of the screen. What we drew onto your photo is what we think a tree such as a Sargent crabapple will do if you buy one that has been grown to have about five feet of trunk before its branches begin. So it gives you the scren without taking up all the available ground level space. Other plants that might create this same hedge-on-stilts effect for you, fairly quickly, are tree lilac (Syringa reticulata), dappled willow (Salix integra‘Hakuro Nishiki')* grown on a standard *(Be sure to check out these plants for their other charactertistics and care; we've written about dappled willow before -- fast fast growth but you will need to cut it back hard every year or it will get out of hand and lose much of its colored-leaf beauty)

These are another example of the background influencing how the photo is exposed based on your cameras meter. The photo above has a very bright background that has the camera meter's exposure so the hawk is a silhouette. The darker background has the exposure so the hawk is seen in more detail.

Ah, the basements, garages, storage sheds and such (including refrigerators) of gardeners are only understood by fellow gardeners and perhaps only tolerated by family members. How old are they? You posted about the setup on Feb. 22, how long after that did you start them? How do you water them?

The rain will not cause the Hollytone to be washed down into the soil and past the root zone, it could be washed away from the soil if the beds are on a slope and the Hollytone is physically moved by the rainwater. Hollytone isn't water soluble.

That is a barberry (Berberis thunbergii) of some kind. A plant that requires steel gauntlets when pruning.

It sounds like you have a cultivar of a spring blooming witchhazel that was grafted to fall blooming witchhazel root stock. To keep the original plant you need to cut all of the fall blooming canes out. If possible excavate soil and cut them off below ground and close to the root it's coming from. Then keep cutting any suckers that come from the roots.

For suckers that are coming from the roots excavate soil from around the sucker and cut it as close to the root it's coming from as possible. This will at least slow down the suckers but not eliminate them totally. Suckers are the strong understock of the tree trying to use all the available energy; sometimes the top (genetically and physically, a different tree than the roots) is just too much slower-growing than the roots so they sprout. The stronger and denser you can make the top of the tree -- get it growing vigorously, without losses to scab or other diseases or pests -- the more shade there is on its own nether regions, the less unused energy, and the less suckering it may do. The cut sucker below had been cut above ground before and had two sprouts coming from the old cut.

Yes you can prune them just like you do your "Magic Carpet". We've cut our dwarf spireas after the buds broke and they did just fine. We cut them down every year and they grow back to 3'x 3' and bloom just fine.

This place is far from quaint but a particular favorite of mine anytime of the year I can get there: the conservatory at Longwood Gardens in Kennet Square, PA. The following photographs are just a sample of the Conservatory. If in the area a visit at anytime of the year is recommended.

If your juniper is an upright plant, there is an illustrated article, Arborvitae got too tall, on our website that shows how to take the top off and have the plant look good too. Junipers and arborvitaes are treated the same when pruning so the tips in the article can apply to your plant. For more information on pruning, you can attend our live webinar Fine Pruning the Landscape on March 15, 2013.

Here's another tip: try photographing the same subject both horizontal and vertical. I did that with the daylily photos below. For more tips you can attend our live webinar "Photography in Your Garden" on March 22. Here's a link for more information http://www.gardenatoz.org/market/webinars/ I prefer the photo above because it's background is the best. The horizontal photo has a distracting line of a plant with different leaves than the daylily. The first vertical has buds that are chopped off. The buds not chopped allow for a slightly darker background which helped to get more detail in the yellow daylily petals.

There are a few different "blue junipers", can you let us know which one it is. To prune a plant properly you have to know the plants growth habit. Some blue junipers are upright or pyramidal (Juniperus virginiana "Manhattan Blue" for instance) in shape , others are broad spreading (Juniperus chinensis types), and there are low growing ground cover (Juniperus horizontalis 'Blue Rug"). If you're not sure, post a photo for us to see.

When I see the skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus) beginning to bloom I know spring is, if not sprung, on the way.

We were wondering where people go in the winter to see green and flowers. Which quaint greenhouses and conservatories do you visit?

You are right Margaret, it is Trillium luteum.

I would also suggest you can contact the Association of Professional Gardeners (http://www.associationofprofessionalgardeners.org/) and see if they can help you.

Right now, at this time, sitting at my desk in the middle of a snow storm, this is my favorite plant. Short lived bloom but it has great color, an unusal shaped flower and cool foliage.

Borax is the common name for sodium tetraborate, a naturally occurring substance produced by the repeated evaporation of seasonal lakes. It is a salt and a very alkaline (pH 9.3) substance and we would be hesitant to use it without looking into it more. First of all what should the solution be a 10% mix, 5%? Then try to find out how long it stays in the soil, does it effect the soils pH, will it hurt the lawn and other desirable plants near by and how effective is it on the target weed. If you decide to use it let us know what happened, good or bad.

We usually cut the Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia) down close to the ground in the fall because the plant looks too shaggy in the winter for our tastes. It has always come back and performs well, maybe too well because it tends to travel more (run and sucker more) when it is cut. If there is a good background for the grey stems, we may leave it up but prune out many of its smaller stems to give it a cleaner look than the plant below. Butterfly bush (Buddleia davidii) we tend to leave up because it looks good in the winter. Then we cut it down to about 4-6".

Yes please post a photo! I've been trying to find something like what you describe by looking at Google images but to no avail. I WANT to see this plant!

There may be another needle disease affecting these pines, brown spot fungus (Scirrhia pini). The Dothistroma needle blight (Dothistroma pini) is a problem for many pines but usually doesn't affect Scots pines as badly, according to this site: http://www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/fidls/dothistroma/doth.htm and others. One of the questions I have is about the weed and feed that was applied to ground (I assume it was to the ground), did it contain the chemical Imprelis? We wrote about Imprelis in What's Coming Up #152 (http://www.gardenatoz.org/media/4133/WhatsUp152a.pdf). If you did the application yourself there wouldn't be any Imprelis, it was only available to professional applicators. I'm also wondering why an arborist had you apply a weed and feed in the first place. I would like to see the ground around the trees, can you post a photo showing it? Browning and dying of needles is often a sign of a root/nutrient/water problem. Did either arborist give a specific name to the problem they said your plants have? Without knowing either of the arborists, I question the first ones diagnosis and remedy. How does an application of weed and feed with fungicide applied to the soil prevent a fungus that is on the needles of the tree and off the ground, in fact as far as 40 feet from the ground. Whatever the problem is, use good cultural practices on the remaining plants to keep them as healthy as possible. Healthy plants can fight off many problems that a stressed/weaken tree cannot.

It was a bright, sunny, winter day and no birds where at this usually busy feeder. Do you see why? Do you see now? It was either a Sharp-shinned or Cooper's hawk keeping them down. Perhaps a better bird expert than I can tell us which one it is.