Q: I have asked Santa to bring me a wire topiary of a Labrador retriever for Christmas. Do you have suggestions on how to fill it?

Marty Crouch, Griffin

A: You have to fill the topiary with long fiber sphagnum moss. Call local nurseries to ask if they can order a bale for you. Soak a bunch of it in a tub of water and then stuff handfuls firmly into the topiary form. Don't leave air pockets. Once filled, use a 1-inch diameter pointed stake (a dibble) to poke holes into the moss-filled dog statue to plant rooted cuttings of creeping fig or small-leafed ivy. Water often enough to keep the moss moist but not soggy. The best time to plant is early May. If you do this project in winter, you'll need a heated greenhouse to keep the young plants alive.

Q: I have daffodil and grape hyacinth bulbs that I haven't managed to get in the ground yet. I most likely won't have the opportunity to do so for another month. Would it be OK to plant them in mid-January?

Ellen Caldera, Canton

A: Gently squeeze the bulbs with your fingers. If they are firm, plant them when you are able. I have planted daffodil bulbs as late as March and they bloomed merrily in May.

Q: My wife and I enjoy watching dragonflies. Does a field guide exist?

Steve Kilbride, Atlanta

A: You both can add "odonatist" to your business cards. An odonatist is a person who is interested in dragonflies, which are members of the scientific order Odonata. Dragonfly nymphs, which live underwater, prey on mosquito larvae. Adult dragonflies eat adult mosquitoes — perhaps hundreds per day. This behavior has earned them the nickname of "mosquito hawk." If you make a backyard water feature, make sure it has mucky areas and some tall plants, like Japanese iris or papyrus, on which the insects can rest. A good reference is "Dragonflies And Damselflies of Georgia and the Southeast" by Giff Beaton (University of Georgia Press).

Q: I've been using gray water from my washing machine on landscape plants. In my research, I found that my plants prefer acid soil and that gray water has a higher pH. Can I add something to the graywater to lower the pH?

Amy Parish, email

A: Dr. Leticia Sonon, program coordinator at the UGA Soil Lab, recently analyzed the water collected from a washing machine with a full load of laundry and a half cup of concentrated GAIN detergent.

She concluded that laundry water pH values and their alkalinity level should not cause any problems in the landscape. The graywater pH of 6.4 and alkalinity of 40 compared favorably to the average levels in Georgia well water samples, which were pH 7.06 with an alkalinity of 56.2. Dr. Sonon found that sodium and all other elements except boron were at concentrations low enough not to cause any injury to plants. The boron level in the first (soapy) wash might harm sensitive plants if you pour the water in a single spot regularly. Other detergents might not have the same chemical content but this is the best information I have at this point.

Note: Graywater should NEVER be used in a vegetable garden. The possibility of disease transmission and food contamination is too great. Most water providers exempt food gardens from current water rules, so tap water can be used when irrigation is needed.

Listen to Walter Reeves Saturday mornings on NewsTalk 750 WSB-AM from 6 to 10. Call 404-872-0750 to ask questions. His website, www.walterreeves.com, contains thousands of answers to lawn and landscape questions. You can buy his autographed gardening books at www.walterreeves.com/books.