Q: I have noticed in my thin Bermuda lawn that whenever I kill a fire ant mound, the grass grows up on the ant site with a vengeance. Do the ants secrete something? My wife thinks it is because ants aerate the ground.

Mark Huey, West Cobb

A: It's good to be married to a smart woman. Your wife is exactly correct. Fire ant mounds may extend a foot underground. Their tunnels thoroughly aerate the soil, which Bermuda grass loves. To have a better lawn, you can either install a bunch of fire ant mounds or you can run over it thoroughly with a rented aerator. The choice is yours.

Q: We invested in some rain barrels after the recent drought. They are inconveniently located on the low side of the house. Is there a reasonably priced pump I can use with a soaker hose?

Sam Cassady, e-mail

A: Frank Henning, University of Georgia Extension watershed agent, says magnetic drive pumps are great if you are hand watering from a rain barrel. They produce lots of volume at low pressure.

If you are drip irrigating, pressure compensating emitters require 25 p.s.i. to function properly.

For a soaker hose, it would be better to use a higher pressure pump powered by AC or DC current. Pump sources include Northern Tool (www.northerntool.com), Grainger (www.grainger.com) and Coastal Pond Supply (www.coastalpond.com).

Q: What is the best method for planting almost invisible seeds? I bought corkscrew plant seeds, and I would like to get as many plants as possible from the package of 25 minuscule seeds.

Dianne Nitschke, e-mail

A: There are a couple of techniques for handing tiny seed. One is to scatter the seed on a piece of white paper and pick them up individually with the moistened tip of a pencil or toothpick. The other is to mix the seed with a half-cup of dry sand and then scatter the sand-seed mixture over the soil in a planting flat using a tablespoon. In either case, use your palm to pat the seed into good contact with the soil. Be sure not to sneeze when working with teensy seed!

Q: I went into the dirt-floored utility room under my house and came out covered with fleas. I don't have a dog or cat, so how did they get there and how can I control them?

Toni Leslie, Atlanta

A: Dogs and cats aren't the only animals fleas feed upon. Possums are good hosts as well. I suspect a possum family has set up housekeeping in your crawl space. Remove them using a cage trap baited with cat food.

Thoroughly spray the utility room with a water-based insecticide and repeat a week later. If you fear you brought the fleas upstairs, remember that a through vacuuming once a week is a fine way to keep them at bay.

Listen to Walter Reeves Saturday mornings on NewsTalk 750 WSB-AM from 6 to 10 a.m. Call 404-872-0750 to ask questions. His Web site, www.walterreeves.com, contains thousands of answers to lawn and landscape questions. Watch "Gardening in Georgia" each week on GPB. Details at www.gardeningingeorgia.com.