I started a flower garden last year. I filled in the vacant areas with stones, but I didn’t lay weed-protecting mesh. Now grass and weeds are invading the areas where the rocks are. What can I do now to prevent the grass and weeds from coming through. I can’t use weed killers for fear of endangering my plants. Someone told me to use sand.

The first step in solving your dilemma is to pull out the existing weeds. Once that is accomplished, the stones will need to be removed. In order to prevent the reappearance of weeds and grass next year, you will need to purchase a weed mat or weed fabric. This material will allow for air circulation and moisture movement, but should aid in keeping unwanted weeds to a minimum. The addition of sand is not advised, as the weeds will eventually grow through it or on it anyhow. Once the mat is in place, you can replace your stones to finish out your landscaping.

For heavy pruning (branches over 1 inch in diameter), most trees are best pruned in late winter or early spring before the sap starts to flow. The major exception is oaks, which should be pruned in late summer or while dormant. This is a preventative measure aimed at stopping the spread of oak wilt disease. Oak wilt is spread by insects that are attracted to the sap of wounds. Make sure all cuts are clean and done by the proper method, using sharp tools. With the exception of stone fruits, it is not necessary to cover the pruning wounds.

I hear that fall is a good time for planting perennials, but if I remember correctly, planting should cease around early to mid-October. However, it seems like I see landscapers planting into November or even December; what do they do differently so they can extend their planting season?

When to stop planting perennials often depends on how warm the fall is. Usually mid to late October is the latest you would plant. If it is unusually warm into early November, then go for it!

 There are four things to remember when planting in the fall. The planting hole must be prepared properly before putting in the plant. When planting, you should always use a rooting stimulant instead of fertilizers. This is especially true in the fall since you want the roots to take hold before the cold hits. Apply 1 to 2 inches of mulch on the soil, but leave 2 to 3 inches of space around the base open to alleviate crown rot.

The most important thing to remember is to water up until the first hard freeze. Water at least once a week for the best root development and to alleviate stress to the plant. Even though the top is going dormant, you must remember that the roots are still growing down below! Don’t depend on fall rains to supply proper moisture levels.

I have a fairly small garden and would like some ideas of small to medium size shrubs that have good winter characteristics.

A few shrubs for winter interest include dogwoods that have either a red or yellow bark; ninebark, which has a peeling bark that adds winter interest; and burning bush that has a really coarse, corky bark. Another plant you may consider is a Harry Lauder’s walking stick (Corylus ‘Contorta’), as it adds a lot of winter interest due to its contorted and twisted shape.

I purchased many flower seeds, most being perennials. Can I sow the seed now and try to get a bit of a head start for next year? Since nature drops its seeds as flowers finish blooming, can I expect a good result? Any tips on how to go about this? If it is too late to sow them now, can they be kept? They are not opened; should I put them in a plastic bag and refrigerate?

It is too late to sow your seeds now. If you purchase perennial seeds in the future but don’t plant them in the spring, then you could try and plant them in the early fall. Plant according to package directions in a lightly mulched bed. In the spring it is important to keep the bed evenly moist before the seeds sprout.

You will likely receive the best results if you plant the seeds in the spring by either starting indoors in February or March, or by planting directly in the bed in May. Store the seeds in an airtight container in your refrigerator. A small jar or a ziplock bag would work fine. If starting indoors to get a jump on nature, you need a good fluorescent light and seed trays. There are many seed-starting kits available that make it an easy and enjoyable task.

I was thrilled by a recent acquisition of shredded/chipped/mulched trees from a contractor removing storm-damaged neighborhood trees, but now I am second guessing its value. I know some of the trees were healthy; others, I have no idea. Does this material need to be treated? Is it (a treatment) something a homeowner can do? If not, what does one do with 5 or 6 yards?!

There are two negatives that come when you take free wood chips from trees that you are not familiar with, both of which are fairly easily remedied at no cost to you. The first problem is that if the tree had any soilborne disease such as verticillium wilt, which can be found in some maple trees, the wood chips from that tree can spread the disease to your soil as well. The other potential problem is that freshly chipped material, as well as material that includes a lot of leaves in it, takes a lot of nitrogen from your soil to aid in the breaking-down process that all organic mulches go through during a season.

To remedy these problems, treat your new mulch as a pile of compost for part of the year. If you can find an area in your yard to store the 5 yards throughout the winter and early spring, go ahead and place it there. The mulch will continue to break down while it is stored in a pile. This composting process produces quite a bit of heat within the pile. Not only does the process of composting reduce the need for the mulch to consume nitrogen from your soil, the heat from the pile kills off many of the organisms that can cause diseases within your newly mulched garden.

I have a trumpet vine about 5 years old that has never shown a hint of blooming. It does not seem to adhere to a trellis, but grows along the ground until I attach it to the trellis. It gets sunlight for about one-half the day. I also have another trumpet vine that gets full sun, but it has the same problems.

As far as the trumpet vine goes, you could try a couple different things. The first thing to look at is fertilizing. Be sure that you are using a fertilizer that is high in phosphorus (the middle number when you are reading a fertilizer label, such as 0-20-0). Also, avoid a excessive nitrogen fertilizer, which is a high first number (15-3-3). This may mean that you have to watch out where your lawn fertilizer is being spread, since lawn fertilizer is high in nitrogen. Be sure to avoid your trumpet vine when you fertilize your lawn. Also, moderate stress on the plant may induce flowering, so only water as needed and do not overfertilize.

Another way of inducing flowering from your trumpet vine is to do something called root pruning:

1) Cut a circular slit in the ground that is centered around the stem of the plant. The circle should have a diameter of two feet for every one inch of trunk diameter. Use a sharp, pointed shovel to make a slit by plunging it into the ground as far as possible, then rock the handle back and forth slightly to create a V-shaped cut. Proceed around the plant until the circle is complete.

2) Sprinkle bone meal or superphosphate into the opening at a rate of 1 cup per inch of stem diameter.

3) Use a gentle stream of water to wash the powder downward.

4) Once the water has disappeared, use your foot to lightly push down on either side of the cut to close the opening.

5) Replace the mulch over the worked area and water thoroughly to settle the loosened soil.

Next, I have a 7 to 8 foot hibiscus tree that is about 4 years old. It gets sunlight all day. The buds are so plentiful that the branches droop to the breaking point, yet it has never blossomed. I tried Miracle Gro this season (as I did with the trumpet vine) and got 3 blooms out of about 300 buds. Help!

As far as the hibiscus tree goes, I’m not sure if you are referring to an indoor hibiscus tree or a rose of Sharon, which is an outdoor tree with Hibiscus syriacus as it’s Latin name. I am going to assume that you are referring to the rose of Sharon, since the trumpet vine you mentioned is also an outdoor plant. Since the tree receives full sun, let’s concentrate on its fertilization. The two main things to do are fertilize with a high phosphate fertilizer and reduce the amount of high nitrogen fertilizer, as mentioned above with the trumpet vine.

Can I use shredded typing paper (today’s inkjet paper) for composting and a mulch? Also, can I use newspaper (with ink) for composting and a mulch?

It is alright to use typing paper and newspaper within your compost pile. They aren’t recommended to be used as a mulch without being composted first, mostly for aesthetic reasons. Also, they will not stay in place for too long without being blown away.

We have a ravine with native plants (trillium, trout lily, etc.), and we need to control erosion. What plants would you recommend? What about pachysandra? Will it overtake and kill the natives?

It sounds as though you would like your ravine to be naturalized with native plants based on your choice of wildflowers. There are many native plants that you can use for erosion control.

The dwarf crested iris (Iris cristata) is a tiny lavender iris that will spread in high open shade and blends well with wildflowers. Cleft phlox (Phlox bifida) has star-like, lavender-blue flowers in the summer and is good in sandy, well-drained soil as an accent groundcover. Fragrant sumac (Rhus aromatica) is a shrub-type groundcover that suckers heavily and prefers sun, but will tolerate shade. It has small, yellow flowers in the spring, followed by clusters of hairy red berries that persist throughout the winter. It does get taller than traditional groundcovers; 2 to 6 feet. ‘Gro-low’ is a new cultivar of sumac that only grows to 2 feet.

There are some prairie grasses that will bind the soil tightly in almost any type of planting environment. These include prairie cord grass (Spartina pectinata), switch grass (Panicum virgatum), sweet grass (Hierochloe odorata) and big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii). Small sedges like Carex pensylvanica make excellent groundcovers under trees, especially oaks.

When deciding to mix and match, it is important to study the growth habits of the plants you are using, as some can be so aggressive that they will overrun nearly all of the other plantings. The rhizomatous natives such as Canada anemone (Anemone canadensis) and prairie cord grass are very effective erosion controllers but need room to run.

Japanese pachysandra (Pachysandra terminalis) is the typically used landscape groundcover, but there is a native pachysandra, Allegheny spurge (Pachysandra procumbens) that is really more interesting. It is a little taller, 6 to 12 inches, with scalloped leaves that are gray-green and become mottled with age. It has fragrant pink-white flowers that look like spiky bottlebrushes. It grows from a thin, white creeping rhizome with prominent eyes for the next year’s growth. It is slower growing than the Japanese pachysandra.