Q: I have four perennial lantana plants. Do I cut the plants down to the ground or do I leave the plants with limbs on? F. M. Long, e-mail
A: The topic is highly debated among garden experts, but I have done it in winter and in spring and have had no bad results. If the dead leaves and stems on your shrubs are highly visible in winter, prune them down to six inches in December. If they are in an inconspicuous spot, prune to the same height in early April.
Q: My daffodils are coming up, but there aren't as many as there have been in recent years. I have a plethora of squirrels and they have been digging in my beds. Did they eat the bulbs? Toby Moore, Snellville
A: If they ate the daffodil bulbs they had a whale of a tummy ache! Animals usually avoid daffodils due to toxic compounds in the bulb. Tulips are also mildly toxic but squirrels are known to consume them. My advice is to divide your existing clumps of daffodils in May and separate the bulbs. Plant them six inches deep in a bed that's been loosened to 12 inches deep. Squirrels aren't so hungry in early summer and will usually leave the bulbs alone.
Q: When I look out at my backyard it dawns on me there still many leaves on my pin oaks and other trees. Can you tell me why this is? Molly Badgett, Decatur
A: Trees that wait to drop their leaves in winter are called "tardily deciduous." Some will gradually defoliate over several winter weeks, but others, like beech and sawtooth oak, hold their leaves until very early spring. You can easily spot the golden leaves of small American beech trees growing among the larger trunks of tulip poplar, hickory and pine in winter.
Q: Now that cold has turned my Bermuda grass brown except for patches of green weeds, can I paint those spots with herbicide or should I wait for spring? Gary Welborn, e-mail
A: You can paint the weeds out with glyphosate (Roundup, etc.) but I recommend you never spray the herbicide on any lawn grass in winter. It's too hard to tell when the turf grass tis actually dormant. I make a "paintbrush" by wrapping an old towel onto an iron rake and spraying glyphosate on the cotton, then wipe it over winter weeds.
Q: I brought some black walnuts from West Virginia to Georgia. They have dried out, so what is the best way to germinate them? Robert Dolin, e-mail
A: Once the green husk has turned black, you can remove it to find the hard, ridged seed inside. Simply plant them now a couple of inches deep in a sunny spot and wait for sprouts in spring. You can transplant them then. Once you put the seeds in the ground, cover with chicken wire to keep squirrels from digging them up this winter
Listen to Walter Reeves from 6 to 10 Saturday mornings on AM 750 and 95.5 FM News-Talk WSB. Visit his website, www.walterreeves.com, or join his Facebook Fan Page at xrl.us/wrfacebook for more garden tips.
About the Author
Featured
