Q: Is it better to over-winter a 4-foot Meyer lemon in a greenhouse, in an unheated basement beside a large window, or in the house? — Susan Little, email
A: The lemon tree wants as much light as you can give it. A greenhouse would be best and an unheated basement would be worse. I surrounded mine this year with four aluminum clamp lights, each of which contains a 100-watt equivalent CFL bulb. I learned this the hard way: My plant last year had only one lamp and it lost half of its leaves by February. However, I put it outdoors this past May and it is full of leaves now.
Q: I have some large potted plants that are too heavy for one person to move. I'd like to repot them now. Is there something I can fill the bottom of the pots with that's not so heavy? — Tammy Cunningham, email
A: Emptied and capped liter and half-liter soda bottles work fine. Plant roots rarely grow more than a foot deep so use the bottles to fill the bottom of your pots up to 12 inches below the rim, then add potting soil. Shake the pot to settle the soil around the bottles and add more if needed before replanting.
Q: I live in a townhouse community where the maintenance company mows the zoysia yards with a riding mower. Should the zoysia be mowed with a riding mower or reel mower? — Janas Calender, Cobb County
A: Zoysia can be mowed with a rotary riding mower if the blade is sharp. If the blade is dull, the grass will look green/brown for a couple of days after mowing because a dull blade shreds the grass tips. Lawns mowed like this will use more water. Ask the maintenance company about their sharpening schedule and observe the color of the grass after mowing next summer.
Q: Writing in your recent email newsletter about dogwood twig borer, you told the questioner that grass growing under a dogwood can have a detrimental effect on the tree. We have vinca vine growing under our 30-year-old dogwood. The tree is beginning to have dead branches and I was wondering if the vinca could be causing the dogwood's decline. — Kathy Engelbert, Marietta
A: Vinca is not nearly as deleterious as turfgrass. Its roots are relatively shallow and so do not steal nutrients and moisture from a tree like lawn grass does. In my experience, dogwoods live about 25 years in Atlanta; any enjoyment you get beyond that is borrowed time.
Q: Earlier this year I removed three roses that were infected with rose rosette virus. My one remaining rose seems unaffected. Is there anything I should do to my pruning tools to insure I don't spread the virus to this remaining rose? — Karen Smith, email
A: Rose rosette is spread by tiny mites that move by wind from plant to plant. Mites feeding on one plant, then going "dirty" to another, spread the virus. You could inadvertently spread the virus, too. It's a good idea to dip pruning tools in a 1:1 bleach:water mix after each cut. The mites themselves are impossible to control.
About the Author
