Q: What item can be used to block weeds in a flower bed? I have been using newspaper, which works great, but I've been told it can attract termites. — Aileen Anom, Gwinnett County
A: The newspaper can attract termites, but so does every limb and stick that touches the ground in your landscape. If you have a professionally maintained termite barrier around the house, it doesn't matter if a few termites are eating your newspaper and yard debris.
Q: I would like to plant dogwoods in memory of a loved one. I would like to plant a white, a pink, and a red dogwood together so they fuse into one mass with three colors. Will that work? — Jeff Saunders, email
A: It should be beautiful in a couple of years. You need to plant the young trees close, but not too close. Here's what I'd do: Use a shovel to thoroughly loosen soil in an 8-foot diameter circle. Put the three trees in the center. I'd plant them so the trunks are 18 inches apart in a triangle. That should be far enough apart to keep the trunks from rubbing on one another when they mature and bloom in a few years. The University of Georgia has a nice publication on choosing and planting dogwoods at bit.ly/UGAdogwoods.
Q: I need to transplant a mature hydrangea from my son's present yard to his new home. I need to dig it up now but cannot replant it for a couple of weeks. — Larry Sullivan, DeKalb County
A: This should be easy. Soak the soil around the hydrangea until it's soggy, then use a spading fork to lift it out of the ground without damaging too many roots. Use old towels and t-shirts to wrap the roots. Keep them damp and shaded until you can plant the hydrangea in a good spot. The shrub should be fine in the long run but may need a little more water in mid-summer to compensate for the roots that were left behind in the move.
Q: My 8-year-old fig tree was damaged by cold last winter. In years before, it made tons of figs. We cut back the dead parts, but from those big branches grew many shoots going straight up. Last summer there were many leaves but few figs. — Connie Harris, email
A: The fig responded to cold damage and your pruning by producing lots of juvenile growth, which produces very few fruit. It can take a couple of years for juvenile branches to begin fruiting heavily. If you can leave the fig alone and avoid pruning again, it will start producing the fruit you want late this summer.
Q: When I went out to my vegetable garden area to start planting peas, I found it completely covered with chickweed. What should I do? — Margie Gonzalez, Gwinnett County
A: At this point in the spring garden, I think you should pull up as much of the green chickweed as you can, then plant the peas. Once the pea seedlings emerge from the soil, cover the dirt around them with a few layers of newspaper. That will greatly inhibit chickweed plants and the newspaper can be tilled into the soil once you harvest the peas and plant something else.
About the Author
