Q Are the Sun-patiens doing well in the sun?
A While I understand your skepticism since the first sun-loving New Guinea impatiens needed tons of water to survive, the new Sunpatiens do thrive in full sun to partial shade with regular water, and they produce huge blooms. A true winner, in my opinion.
Q If you have big knots on crape myrtles from previous prunings, can you prune below the knots, and will the plants be OK?
A You can prune below the knots or choose three of the biggest sprouts coming from the knots and prune out everything else. If you do prune below the knots, as they begin to sprout again, selectively prune the sprouts to limit how many new branches grow. While pruning this late is not going to kill your plants, it will delay the first blooms. Most crape myrtles are fully leafed out. To lessen the impact on blooms, you might do a third of the knobs this year and tackle the rest in February.
Q We have a gardenia bush we planted on the south side of our home. On its original label, it was noted as typically blooming between May and August. During last fall's warm season, it continued to produce new blooms. We had intended to prune it, since it has become tall and spindly, but we are unsure as to when we should now do this.
A Gardenias are one of the plants that don't follow the normal rules of pruning. While it can have two sets of blooms, the main flush is usually in June to early July (although as early as our spring has been, that may be bumped up to May this year). The flowers that appear first are from buds set before the bush went dormant last fall -- so they're on the old wood. If your plant needs to be pruned, do so as soon as these first blooms fade. It could affect some of the later flowers that appear on the new wood in late summer to fall, but pruning in the fall would prevent the bulk of your summer blooms.
Q I have been trimming Bradford pears and gotten attacked by the numerous "1-to-2 inch" thorns on the trees. The sprouts that come up off the exposed roots are also notoriously gifted with thorns. Have our experts on "tree genes" done us in by overstepping nature? Also, there are lots of exposed roots resulting in lots of sprouts. Can I feed the sprouts just a little Roundup without damaging the tree?
A Bradford pears are a selection of a Callery pear called Pyrus calleryana "Bradford." Bradford pear trees do not normally have thorns, however their root stock -- the true Callery pear -- does have thorns. Birds are eating the small fruits and sowing these trees freely. The result is that hybrid Callery seedlings are blanketing our roadsides, and the resulting trees are loaded with thorns and fruits of various sizes. I wish I could tell you in good conscience to treat the sprouts attached to the mother tree with Roundup, but it can damage the mother tree as well -- which would not be a loss in my book!
Q We have a sticker weed in our backyard. I think it is called grassbur. It appeared last year and we tried to kill it but with no success. It is back again this year. Can you tell us how to go about getting rid of it?
A If you have stickers now it is the winter annual spurweed. Sandburs are on taller, grassier plants, and their stickers are produced in the summer. Spurweed has a nasty little sticker, but unfortunately, the sticker is the seed and that is left behind as these winter weeds die with hot weather. Fertilizing the lawn to buffer the stickers now, or raking them up, are your only recourse. You can't kill the seeds. Next winter, monitor for the weed as it begins to grow and kill it before it blooms and sets more stickers.
Janet B. Carson is a horticulture specialist for the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service. Write to her at 2301 S. University Ave., Little Rock, Ark. 72204 or email her at
jcarson@arkansasonline.com
HomeStyle on 04/15/2017