Q: The leaves on my mother’s magnolia have lots of little white dots on them. There are at least 10 per leaf and most are near the midvein of the leaf. Vicki Dowd, Cornelia
A: My money is on false oleander scale insects. False oleander scale is not a good name since this insect attacks Southern magnolia, sweetbay magnolia, aucuba and English ivy as well as oleander. These sap-sucking insects are very difficult to control. Horticultural oil is the first thing to try. Spray thoroughly in May and then again two weeks later. This will suffocate young scale that are present in early summer. For tall trees that cannot be sprayed easily, you can use a systemic insecticide that is applied to the root system of the tree. Look for products that contain imidacloprid. Check the tree in October to see if any white dots are still on the leaves.
Q: Any advice on finding a garden coach in Atlanta? I am looking for someone to walk through my yard once or twice a year to help optimize my gardening. I need things like best way to prune, selecting perennials that will always be blooming, better use of fertilizer and identifying what plants I have. Matthew Osucha, Brookhaven
A: I could not find anyone who advertises themselves exclusively as a gardening coach. But several small landscaping companies I talked to have someone who is knowledgeable enough to do coaching if asked. They all emphasized that they are very busy with their normal landscaping, maintenance and design projects right now. As a result, a staffer would have to charge an hourly rate for their services.
Q: In June, a beaver dug into my fenced yard during the night and cut down my 6-year-old healthy pear tree. Now there are five very vigorous sprouts/suckers growing from the base. Should I cut back to one sprout or do I have to dig up the pear tree and start all over? Vicki Van Der Hoek, Morrow
A: Unlike with apple trees, pears are never grafted onto a dwarfing rootstock. This is a key bit of information because if you had a grafted apple instead of a pear tree, fruit from the sprouts might be unlike the fruit you expect. Happily, you have a pear. This means all of the sprouts are identical to the parent. Choose the one that’s growing fastest and straightest to be your replacement trunk and remove the rest. Since you have a 6-year-old root system feeding the sprout, it will grow rapidly next year.
Email Walter at georgiagardener@yahoo.com. Listen to his comments at 6:35 a.m. on “Green and Growing with Ashley Frasca” Saturday mornings on 95.5 WSB. Visit his website, www.walterreeves.com, or join his Facebook Page at bit.ly/georgiagardener, for his latest tips.
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