Q: I am looking for a vine to plant on a chain-link fence to create a privacy wall. What would you suggest?

JULIAN DILLARD, Atlanta

Walter Reeves (ENLARGE)

Crossvine is a great vine for arbors. The 'Tangerine Beauty' variety sports many trumpet-shaped orange flowers in May.

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A: My favorite vines include crossvine, evergreen clematis and Confederate jasmine. All are evergreen, grow vigorously and have attractive blooms. They vary in sun tolerance so do a bit of research before purchasing.

Q: We planted blackberries two years ago. There are brown branches that we feel need to be trimmed but are unsure how and when this should be done.

MARTHA MOORE, Jackson County

A: Blackberries have two kinds of branches: floricanes, which flower and produce berries, and primocanes, which will turn into floricanes next year. Your brown canes are probably floricanes, which always die after a crop is produced. Prune them out now and give each plant 1/4 cup of 10-10-10 scattered lightly around it. Fertilize again with 1/2 pound of 10-10-10 in March. This stimulates the production of new canes. Be sure to water next year if it turns dry in May before harvest. Fertilize again in June and water as needed to keep the primocanes happy during the rest of the summer.

Q: Three out of my twenty seven Leyland cypress's are dead and most of the others have branches turning brown. Is there chemical that will stop this?

RICK EVANS, e-mail

A: I anticipate many questions like yours after this year's drought. Leyland cypress has thin bark which splits easily in dry weather. The splits admit various damaging fungi. The most common is seridium canker. The canker encircles an infected twig and causes the needles beyond that point to die. There are no fungicides to control this disease. The best thing you can do is to prune out dead branches and spray rubbing alcohol on your pruning tool between each cut.

Q: I moved here from northern Ohio. Could you tell me the growing season for vegetables in the Atlanta area? I am interested in tomatoes, carrots, onions and melons.

GORDON CROWLEY, Dallas

A: If we define the growing season as the number of days between last and first frost, then it varies from 190 days in Blairsville in north Georgia to 290 days in Thomasville, near Florida. Atlanta averages 260 growing days each year. Vegetable take varying numbers of days to produce their fruit but you can easily have three harvests. Start with cool season crops like lettuce and carrots in spring, follow with tomatoes, corn and melons in summer and end with onions and turnip greens in fall. I have a list of good Georgia gardening fact sheets at www.walterreeves.com/food_gardening/article.phtml?cat=1&id=474

Q: As I remodel, I am finding droppings that are black for three quarters of the length with the rest being white. My building is pretty well closed off and I can't figure out what is leaving this.

CHARLIE FRASHER, e-mail

A: A snake or a lizard has been visiting. Both creatures have a cloaca, the final excretory chamber into which their intestines and urinary tracts empty before defecation. The white part of each dropping is uric acid which was deposited internally onto their fecal matter. It isn't likely the reptiles will be a permanent problem. Your remodeling work will eventually close their entrances.