Live Q&As

Dear Mr. Higgins, I was given a hydrangea that is supposed to have blue colored flowers. I heard treating the soil would ensure the blue blooms. What do I need to do? The soil in the yard is typical of the Seventies subdivision: a heavy brown color with a high clay content under sod.

What do you think about planting white clover seeds in place of a lawn? Other than mowing it, we're not very good about keeping up our lawn (aerating, weeding, fertilizing, etc.) and we don't want to pay a service to do it for us. Would a clover lawn be easier to maintain?

Am I glad to see you online today! I carefully planned and then planted a shade garden . . . .and then sat back and watched a good bit of it disappear. My hostas are pretty much gone and now the voles are starting on the ferns. I'm quite sure it's voles. (I can see the holes they are making and the plants are dying because the roots have been eaten.) I'm pretty sure there's not much one can do about voles that isn't super toxic. If that's the case, is there anything I can plant in a shade garden that voles do not like? I have heard they like plants with fleshy, bulbous roots -- like hostas.

I have a small strawberry patch raised bed. This is my second year, and I was looking for many fruits this year. I did mulch and the fruits were not touching ground, but they were all eaten by something by the time they were ripen. They all have several holes, and it looks like they've been eaten by bugs. (Not birds or animals for sure, since fruits are still haging on.) Today, I finally saw slug coming out from a strawberry! If the slugs are eating my berries, what would be the best organic way to keep them away?

Adrian, we came back from a two-week vacation last week to find our 8-year0old sour cherry tree missing nearly all its leaves, and those that were left were brown and shrivelled. It's strange because we had a bumper crop of cherries in June. I noticed a few yellow leaves before we left, but nothing that seemed abnormal. Any idea what happened and do you think the tree is dead or might come back? Thank you.

For rain gardens we recommend to residents digging about 6"-8" in saucer shape, not bowl shape, and emphasize planting native plants, which don't need amended soil. Not sure about the 18" to 45" you mention.

Good afternoon! I have a September Charm Japanese Anemone by my front door that is rapidly outgrowing its space (didn't know it was invasive when I planted it). I don't want to destroy it but would like to move it out of that spot because we feel like we are walking through a jungle. It's getting ready to bloom. Could I safely transplant it after it is finished blooming? I want to plant a boxwood in that space before winter. I live in Zone 6. Thanks for your help!

The hydrangea flowers are turning brown. They are in part-shade and I have been watering them. How much water do they need? Thanks.

I have a small little "umbrella tree" (camper down elm) in my front yard which I love. It is prone to and infested with scale. I finally resorted to expensive chemical ground injections from a tree care company this last time around. Am I destined to fight this forever?

This hot weather is prompting me to get rain barrels for my gutter downspouts. Last year I was surprised to learn that rain barrels are illegal in many western states. You're not allowed to capture water. You have to let it go back into the ground and the water table.

I'm already thinking of cooler days and of trying to get rid of the clover and other broadleaf weeds that have taken over my yard here in Charlottesville. How difficult will it be to use organic broadleaf killers and then amend the soil and seed anew? Or might I be better off tilling everything under, amending completely and starting fresh? What's the tipping point for one method or the other? Many thanks.

I was happy to see the rain garden feature, but I think it is a little involved for most folks. Would merely adding some of the plants from the resources help with soaking up excess water--without the excavation, etc.? I have a somewhat "swampy" area in my yard, yet to be landscaped, and I was hoping to just create a bed of water-loving plants--saving my back from all that digging and saving the costs of regrading the lawn. Creating the bed would involve amending the soil, so I expect it would improve drainage. It seems shrubs versus weedy lawn and day lilies would be an improvement regardless. Not that it would matter this summer! I live in fear of the water bill's arrival, though I follow recommendations such as a.m. or evening watering, being generous with the mulch, etc. Unfortunately I picked this spring to double the size of my vegetable garden and greatly expand my perennial garden!

How long does it take after planting a raspberry plant to get berries? This is my second year and the bushes are beautiful but no raspberries! Can you plant blueberry bushes in the same bed and or near the raspberry bushes? I live north of Boston, Mass. Thank you.

I have been hearing about the Giant Hogweed plant. It seems quite frightening. How does one get rid of it should it appear nearby? Is there someone to call?

I just found tiny little black bugs crawling over my basil plants yesterday. I've never seen them before. Any ideas on what they could be, and how I can save my plants?

I grow a lot of radishes. I plant them in the rows of the seeds that are slow to germinate such as parsnips and parsley. Sometimes they form good bulbs for harvesting, but sometimes all they do is grow foliage, go to seed and provide no edible root -- all in the same raised bed. Any idea what's causing this?

Professor, I bought a weeping pussy willow that doesn't weep. One small branch is weeping but the rest of the tree is standing straight up. I bought it from a mail order catalog and when it came it was just a small branch that I stuck in the ground. Was I supposed to be training it to weep as it grew? If so, I didn't. Is there anything I can do now to make it weep?

My property borders a detention pond. My yard leads to a chain-link fence and on the other side is a six-inch-wide berm held up by railroad ties. The property owner will mow the other part but not edge along the berm, so I've got wild, poisonous weeds along there, creeping into my yard. Is there something I can plant in that are -- full sun, well-drained soil -- to spread on both sides of the fence to keep the weeds at bay? Thanks.

My beautiful 3-year-old Japanese Magnolia (approximately 6-feet-tall) was transplanted to my front yard, against my better judgment, in April. Eventually the green leaves curled and fell off, and now it is entirely bare. I keep watering it, hoping there is life in there somewhere, but hate to keep a dead tree in my front yard until next spring. Is there a way to tell without digging it up?

What was the white flower on the cover of the Local Living Section? The red one was a scarlet lobelia, the purple one was some type of blue flag iris, but I couldn't place the one white.

How do I create a rain garden in an already established area with a lots of plants thriving in it? I get a lot of run-down rain water from my neighbor's yard, which seats slightly higher than mine. With heavy rain the mulch or rocks in my dry stream wet washed away. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

We have extremely hard water and have installed a water softener. I've been told by numerous people not to water my flowers and vegetable garden with this water as it will harm the plants. True?

Now I wanted to know your thoughts on how to handle excavated soil from a rain garden hole: if it's as common in D.C., there's not space in the yard to put it and it's more than you can use in a berm.

Do you have a cat? My neighbors' cats took care of my vole problem! My "lawn" contains a good bit of clover -- though it is not all clover -- and I find it very satisfactory, as do the honey bees!

Mr. Higgins, what do your suggest as the appropriate watering cycle for lawns and garden beds in this heat?

There are hotlines to call in certain parts of NY. They ask that you call and photograph it.

Last year the heavy snow weighed down my side bushes around the perimeter of my small lawn. They are now brown in several places and out of shape. How do I get them looking green and healthy again?