Garden Q And A - Summer Stress, Fall Planting, Resetting Plants, Spider Mites 

What a great reminder that having a garden is a safe space for life that sustains us all. We gardeners have a responsibility that I take seriously more and more.

Adding to Jim’s pollinator comments… there are many pollinators (tiny wasps, flies, soldier beetles, etc) that also control destructive invertebrate pests. They lay eggs in aphids or hunt caterpillars to feed their young. So, attracting these tiny flying wolves assures a better integrated pest management, even if you don’t notice them.

Jim, I'm so glad Holly is doing well. She is so sweet, that kind of dog is once in a lifetime.

Good morning from north Georgia, having a bit of a cool down the last few days. It's our "feels like fall" teaser, 90s again next week

“Jim always has good news.” 😊

You are absolutely right about how we’ve approached gardening, lawns, and agriculture and the need for more of us to garden with diversity.

Thanks for the update on Holly. "Jim always has good news". 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Excellent way you answered the "what good are pollinators without fruit trees?" question. Over one third of our food supply will be gone without them in addition with a catastrophic breakdown in the ecosystem. I had a eight year lull having a garden because of shade. Abundance of pollinators on the old one, but despite same plants, new location with more sun my new garden yielded hardly anything (only hand -pollinated which is hit or miss) because there virtually were NO bees. So now every year I add more and more plants to help them out and the improvement is like night and day. My goal is to reach the level it was (I hope) when we were growing up and there was an abundance of bees, butterflies, and other pollinators that were seen everywhere.

Hi, Jim. I'm in suburb of New Orleans, zone9. Weeds spread so wildly in my St. Augustine grass that we had to dig up the weeds and put down new sod in April. The company that sold us the sod instructed us not to apply any herbicide for a full year, that we'd have to pull weeds manually and/or manually apply weed killer to say a cloth and rub that on that individual weed. Well, we've had so much heat (upper 90's) that we've had to water the grass frequently. Well the weeds are coming back in large numbers. Please, please tell us what to do!! Many of our neighbors also have this problem. Thanks so much.

I imagine you get tired of repeating yourself, but I've found myself finally getting a light bulb moment after hearing some of your advice multiple times. Thanks!

Hi Jim, Thanks as always. We purchased two roses from Jackson Perkins toward the end of last season. When they arrived, we had a great deal going on and didn't get around to planting them until winter was here is zone 8A close to Irmo/Columbia, SC. We decided to hold off planting them until spring and kept them in our sun room until spring. We actually got a couple of blooms over the winter and had great hopes for this season. Our soil is heavy clay so we planted them about 1.5 to 2 inches proud. They have hardly grown and produced no blooms all season. We are putting in a large patio project and our contractor has said they will do much better in large pots as roses don't do that well in our area. He said to drive around and pay attention to the lack of roses and anything that does well, we will see a great deal. He appears to be correct. There are very few roses around here. What is the best way to transplant them into pots? Sorry the preamble is so long.

I put a beach umbrella above my hydrangeas when the sun gets really hot.

Hi Jim! Great news on sweet Ms. Holly ❤ In reference to high ph in my potted plants, I did just purchase a ph soil tester probe from Amazon .

Great stuff, Jim! In my experience, pH meters are the FIRST variable to rule out when dealing with a pH imbalance - the $15 pH pens from Amazon are almost all unreliable, and only until I spent the additional $50-$75 on a scientific grade pH pen (I chose the BlueLab brand, personally) did I realize how inconsistent the readings were on my cheap units. Happy gardening, everyone!

So many have little grasp of the concept in which every single creature is connected to the whole, to all of us. What's in it for me? If you're one who honestly poses that question, I'm not sure I can "justify" any creature's existence well enough for you. Every single thing on earth has a purpose. We're interconnected -- and are literally dependent on each other for a prosperous, full, joyful, and optimal life You could undertake a course of study, how + why these relationships. Earth, creation, "Life", "the Lord's handiwork" -- however you view the world we're in: The force that created us is maximally elegant. Not one life is unnecessary or is "a waste". Quite the opposite. It all depends on who is doing the deciding.

Endless Summer Hydrangea is full of blooms still in this SW Washington, zone 8b, garden. Great plant.

I just watched a video by a Master Gardener down your way. He said one of the best ways to control voles is to have lawn up to the house or plants isolated in beds. In other words, he suggests denying them a refuge.

I have also had so many native bees and wasps this year! I was worried in late Spring because there were almost none, but I think it was the longer-than-usual cool weather that just delayed their emergence. I love seeing the diversity of insects and birds that we have now 💚💚💚

Q: when laying out paths, how wide do you like to start with? Love the channel!

We have given me so much great information. I have a crap apple that blesses me extremely well this time of the year. I am cleaning up about 10 gallons of the little cherry sized crap apples every 2 to 3 days. Anything I can do. Do not want to cut the 30 year old tree down but the clean up on my patio is wearing me out.

If you plant something marginal to your zone in too much shade, can that make it more susceptible to winter damage?

Thanks as always for all the educational information! So glad to hear that Holly seems to be doing well. ❤❤

Texas 9a. We've been in a drought for months and this heat is torturing everything, except my Dianthus. They are so abused and don't seem to care. Definitely planting them again next year.

🪴🌳🌿🌺YOUR GARDEN STILL LOOKS AMAZING ‼️🌺🌿🌳🪴

Good news on Miss Holly. Thank you for your knowledge! Just bought some banappeal anise per your garden. Just planted it. Awesome!

Great questions! I love the late season pollinator crew. My vitex is throwing a few blooms after I dead-headed it a month ago, and they're all loving it.

Hi Jim, I have a Gold Mop False Cypress that has outgrown its space. Can these be reset in the early spring? Is there a way to reduce their size once they have gotten too large?

Would love for you to tour a garden that's drip irrigation free. 😊🌿 ☀️ 🌧️

Good morning from CA zone 9! Question - Five years ago I planted a mixed boarder for screening that isn't filling in. We have compacted clay soil and I would like to build up berms between the old plants for new plants to fill the holes. Is this a bad idea? Old plants= Monrovia Dwarf Strawberry Tree (Arbutus unedo 'compacta') and Monrovia Texas Mountain Laurel (Sephora secundiflora). New plants= Shiny Xylosma (Xylosma congesta) and Sweet Olive (Osmanthus fragrans).

Favorite weed? Any unwanted plant that can be easily removed and is non-invasive.

GREAT advice, AS ALWAYS, Jim. Thanx SO MUCH for sharing your passion, your knowledge. Yes, safe-space for the pollinators, and I'm having a treMENdous year! Yay!!! ( but also a little heavy on powdery mildew here in Zone 6a, SW of Cleve., OH). Hugs to Holly...

Question: 3 years ago I found one lone Arrow Point holly (Ilex x RutHol4) in a big box store and brought it home. It has done so well and is just beautiful. I have been completely unable to find any more of them and I'm wondering if you might know why? I'm in zone 7b, central NC. Thanks Jim

Can you do a video on your grow light system? Thanks.

When is the best time to prune back a cedar tree? I have a ginormous “wild” cedar tree in my front yard garden it’s gotta be 40’ x 40’ and it’s grown so much this year it’s crowding my new shrubs in the beds …. right now it’s got blue berries on it I don’t want to hurt it I want the tree there blocking the road Thanks best to your sweet Holly that’s great news I hope they are going away 🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍

Can you talk about plants for zone 5 Thank You

I got a selection of quart landscape roses from one of the big box store’s website for a good price. It reminded me of you saying you always like to acquire plants smaller. I do as well and finding smaller sizes is challenging. I know you have wholesale opportunities than us, and better gardening buddies to swap with (i envy you that one thing) but if you didn’t, how would you shop to get smaller plants economically? Btw, the big box store is not one where i ever buy plants in person because the staff kill them. Why would i chance that when they will ship me something perfect direct from the growers? Even if i have to protect it for a while, it’s better.

I understand that fall is not the best time to plant grasses & some perennials such as butterfly bush. But that is when they are most available at the nurseries. How do you handle that as far as planting?

Just love watching and learning form your videos. Live in zone 7a southeast Missouri. I have several coral bells and mop head hydrangeas in 2-3 gallon pots that I have carried in to an unheated garage for about 2 years now. Would love to left them out this winter. Both are hardy down to zone 4-5. What are your thoughts??? They are not in frost free pots just plastic. Thanks in advance for your advice

Was wondering if you’ve ever visited/planned on visiting Leu Gardens in Orlando, FL? They have the most beautiful camellia collection of over 200 cultivars and hundreds of them the size of small trees.

Thank you! Wonderful information. I live in zone 7 and my laurel hedge was defoliated from the freeze. It is coming back from the bottom with good growth. Should I fertilize it this fall to help more growth. It was about 5 ft now is about 2. Thanks.

I have also seen a lot of bumble bees coming to my garden for the last 2 years! I haven't seen hardly any the past 20 yrs of living in Central West TX. So it's been a pleasure seeing them! I have a question about Root Knot Nematodes. They somehow came into the veggie garden bed. I believe it was on one of the sage plants I bought at the garden center here in town bc, its the only plant that wasn't planted by seed. I read they do not like heat, but it's been insanely hot this summer, so they should be dead! However, they have continued to invade the roots of all my plants, except the arugula and the zinnias. Both are doing amazingly. Can you tell me a time-tested option for me to eradicate these evil parasites? I have spread peroxide when I have pulled up plants that have them. I used lots of compost and smelly feted swamp water, so I have some more beneficial nematodes into the soil.

You may not be able to answer but what do you think about using expanded shale as a garden bed amendment for sticky “gumbo” soil to improve aeration and reduce soil compaction. I’m testing this theory out myself.

Hey Jim any tips for dealing with oleander caterpillars? Just came back home to FL from a vacation to NC and found my entire hardy pink oleander plant was eaten by oleander caterpillars. The plant is only about 2 and a half feet tall and was newly planted in March here in zone 9b. Would you still spray for them at this point or just let them have it and let the plant refresh itself?

Jim! You are a fantastic resource for teaching me how to take care of the garden I inherited. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us. My question is, can I limb up/tree form my way too big for the space blue spruce bushes? They are in my full sun front foundation beds. I'd like to be able to SEE the holly and lilac bushes that are hidden behind these massive blue spruces, and plant some dwarf flowering evergreens in the reclaimed ground space. Will they survive? Or should I save myself the extra work and just pull them out, keep the hidden bushes and start new where the spruces were? Zone 7a, but right on the 7b line here in Baltimore, Maryland (Catonsville). Thanks!

Thank you so much Jim for answering my question! Will do the scratch test.

48-yr Arborist questions Maui WildFire and shares insights. Blossom Inner Wellness

Jim is coming to Cincinnati, yeah!!!!! Please give the date. I would love to attend the event. Love your videos. Team Holly❤❤❤

I have to amend. there is nothing in mine but clay soil that I treat like a clay pot lol

Zone 7a with insane Bermuda grass and heavy clay with alot of rock soil. What are your thoughts on using rock rather than mulch to help keep down Bermuda grass?

The water comes from limestone bedrock primarily in Texas and has very high ph.

Love your videos! Would you consider doing a soil test with your extension service at the same time for comparison?

Hey Jim. Good morning from Lowgap/Mt Airy area! I like the red Yucca plant to your right, where can I get one?

My little dog had a small tumor and it did not grow for a long time. Then one day it ruptured. It was awful. It was ont he back of her neck. She has since passed away but she was 19 years old. he love of my life. We chose not to remove because she was so old when it showed and did not seem to grow until one day. Be careful. It was very painful for her. I wish I had done more. She was such a precious dog. Sugarbear would go to nursing homes and visit the elderly. Believe it or not she was a chocolate chihuahua and the most loving dog ever.

Question- Would you recommend a ground cover for under a hedged row of Leyland Cypress trees against a fence line? A neighbor has invasive blackberry vines that I don't want bare soil/mulch around. I'm in WA 8B. Just saw your evergreen ground cover video and like the idea of that Asiatic jasmine. Thanks so much!

I planted liatris in a flower bed and they never came up. Later, I noticed mole/vole activity in the area. Will moles/voles eat bulbs and corms? If so, what can I do to protect them?

Are companion plants effective for deterring pests like slugs?

Love your videos! I have powdery mildew on my echinacea. Anything to do at this point or just ignore it?

I have a dwarf burning bush and this year only the tips of the branches leafed out. The rest remained bare. I'm in zone 8.

Hey Jim for the garden transformations series, was it okay to send you the pics in a Google Drive? Asking because I had too many attachments and I wanted them to be labeled and higher quality

Do you think areas such as Houston that have had such a bad summer could receive extra benefit from a second round of organic fertilizer this late September/early October once things cool down?

Hi Jim. I am in SE Raleigh. I bought a temple of the bloom tree in the fall of 2020. When it broke dormancy in spring, I realized that there was another tree growing out of the middle of the temple of bloom. I identified it through a plant app and it told me it was quaking aspen, 3 years later and both trees have grown together, but aspen is already 17 feet tall. I planted this tree 10 feet away from the house thinking it will be a small ornamental tree - temple of bloom. I read that aspen doesn't do well in zone 7b, but mine has strived in full sun, however, I see random dead branches on the temple of bloom. Should I just let the aspen grow (I love that it blocks neighbors window) or should I remove it since it is so close to the foundation of the house? Can you talk more about quaking aspens in our hot and humid climate. Thanks.

Hi Jim, would you like to make a video about red new Zealand flax (the Red plant on your right) I hope to learn more about it. I try to design my hot sunny front yard in zone 8b PNW. Thank you 🙏

Hey Jim, any hint on when you are going to put out that new boxwood video ? Thank you HortTube man 🌳🌳🌳🐕

Yay, Holly!!!🤗🤗🤗💜💚🩷🧡❤️

It’s what they’re using as a pot. If it’s some kind of stone that is.

Hopefully you will see this question but I do have a limelight in quick fire hydrangea that I bought in the spring and I didn’t get put in the ground (it got really hot early in the spring then I just put it off until it cooled down) and they kind of just ended up on my north facing deck. They have flowered, but they have lost a lot of leaves on the bottom half and they are actually going to be planted in the south facing sun. I am in zone 4A so it usually doesn’t get quite hot. I need to get them planted soon, but should I trim it down or just cut the blooms off? Or will they be fine. I have clay soil.

Hey Jim, I have 5 old azaleas that are at least 40 years old and they look in rough shape. They are under some pine trees and need a good pruning. Can I do a hard prune and if so when is the best time to do it? I wanna give them one more chance to cowboy up before they get ripped out.

My "first choice" caryopteris is now 70" tall and 50" wide. If one of these was REALLY happy, should I expect this kind of growth on the 2nd year? I cut it to 1 or 2ft from the ground in early March.

Thanks Jim. 🌺💚🙃

How would u suggest to put clover seeds into my lawn … I would like to completely replace it … do I need to remove the grass seed it or add it in? 7b AL what time of year? Thanks!!!!

Anyone notice that stiff breeze coming through the yard when Holly appeared ?

Question about gardenias…in the Pacific Northwest zone 8b, I’m growing a 4 year old chuck Hayes in a container that’s protected in the winter. Every late summer I see quite a few interior leaves turning bright yellow and dropping. See it on some camellias as well. Is this just the life cycle of shedding old leaves? Don’t hear you or Jenny at creekside mention this.

Can an amathyst wisteria be safely grown up a very large white oak tree

I am in Northwest Alabama 7b. I am trying to propagate incrediball hydrangeas using the method you showed using a pot with slits cut in it. My question is can i leave the rooted limb in the pot over the winter and cut it in the spring to plant ? If not how would you over winter the pots after cutting them from the mother plant?

I live in zone 6a. What would be a good alternative for a dwarf lorepetulum? Its sweet torture seeing yours knowing that i cant grow one.

I've got a sekkan cryptomeria that I planted this spring. Aaand I got a little too close to it with a weed torch and scorched the ends of some of the branches. 😣 I'm seeing a bit of new growth on it right now, and I was wondering if I should go ahead and prune the scorched bits, or just leave it be and let the tree figure it out on its own?

“Jim always has good news.”😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

What do you think of Jay Sifford's gardening personalities articles? What personalities are you most like?

Hi Jim. I am in 8b Tallahassee and bought a moon dance hydrangea and planted it in a space that gets about 6 hours of direct sun. I keep it well watered, but it is wilting every single day when it gets sun. Now it is rapidly dropping leaves. I'm confused because I thought Panicle hydrangeas were supposed to want full sun. Does moon dance need to be treated more like macrophylla and be planted in the shade? Thanks.

I love your show, we are in the same zone

Can you have soil tests done where you have problematic areas? I’ve got a place in the front of my house that had a dead patch when it was grass. The grass would grow there but then it would die just in a small area. When we decided it wasn’t worth it to continue trying to grow grass, we turned the soil, pulled weeds, added soil conditioner and compost. There was never anything different about that soil in the area before we did that. I checked by digging down about ten inches to see if it was grubs or something. Anyway everything was growing well in that area then a bunch of mushrooms grew up around the circle. That had never happened before. The mushrooms are harmless though so I left them alone. Now the hydrangea that’s nearing the edge of that area has gotten the smallest blooms while the one 4 feet away have huge blooms. It also has a few spots on the leaves. It just look unhealthy. So what I want to find out by that soil test is if something is wrong? Is there a harmful something(fungus, etc) in that area. Do they make soil samples for that?

Texas may be using alkaline ground water with no rain

Where do you buy triple shredded mulch? Can you get it at lowes or home depot?

Good morning, Jim! I recently planted some woody trees in my yard and they’re now suffering from some transplant shock. Is it safe to use Superthrive on deciduous plants throughout the fall without running any risk with dormancy?

Jim!!! How close should I plant august beauty gardenia to create a hedge?

Jim, you’re always in shorts, so what mosquito repellent do you use?

I planted a young clump river birch last year. It is approximately 10 feet from edge of my leach field . It is about 5 feet tall. Should I move it to a different location? I heard that it can search for moisture and destroy my leach drains. I’m 6a CT. Location is part sun, dry soil.

I bought a couple of Lucky bamboo (Indoor plant) from home Depot placed them into a vase of fresh water but i think they have spider mites, some of the leaves feel gritty and are turning yellow. I wiped the leaves off with a damp paper towel and removed blackish debris. Will that help them recover?

I have a shady area with a handful of native shrubs (red twig dogwood, oakleaf hydrangea, and itea, among others), and unfortunately the ground is just covered in poison ivy. After much research I've come to the sad conclusion that glyphosate is the best solution to getting rid of the poison ivy. How close to the shrubs can I spray without harming the shrubs? Alternatively, do you have any better suggestions for getting rid of the poison ivy? Would sheet mulching work (I put down 5-6 inches of woodchips last year and the poison ivy just grew up through it). Thanks!

What can I plant in an area that is full sun all day and evening. Gets South sun and east sun I live in zone 7, SW Oklahoma.

You should not put the mulch over the crowns of plants. It increases the incidence of botrytis rot, especially in woody stemmed perennials. Putting mulch over the crowns of your plants is one of the main reason plants fail. It might work in the Carolinas, it’s not good everywhere. Gardening companies don’t tell their people how to mulch, then every year they are like, “we don’t know why the lavender died.”

IT’s September now and thinking about ordering some bulbs from colorblends for zone 7a in Belair, Md. if I need to pick 2-4 bulbs (15-25 ea), what do you recommend?

Hello Jim, I have an Emperor One Japanese maple that I need to move due to deer damage. They continue to eat the new growth. Can I move it from the ground and transplant it into a container ? I would like to move it next to my back porch. The tree is about 3 feet tall and I’m in zone 8b. Thanks

I have a saltwater pool with a 60 foot long planting bed just outside the pool enclosure. One end of the planter receives sporadic overspray from the pool vacuum, and the plants in this area just don’t seem to grow as well. Is this likely from the salt water overspray? If so, how do I remediate it? Do I need to dig out and replace the soil in this area?

Holly Love! xoxoxo

Help! My garden is stressed with fungus. Black leaves on everything (sporadic). If not black dappled with pale spots. Is it ruined? Do I have to throw away plants or can I chop it all down and hope it dies over winter? Do I need to treat or remove the soil?

Looking forward to the soil testing video. Thank you for another amazing garden Q and A

Hi Jim, I’m in 11b. My soil is high alkaline clay. Been composting and topping with mulch for two years. The soil is slowly becoming more friable, but the ph remains high. Will the ph ever change? My potted soil (usually Miracle Grow potting mix) has high ph, too. Could it be the water? I use city water.

How to get rid of kyllinga weed HELP PLEASE 😢

Can you mulch over grass? We bought our first house in '21; built in '62. The oak tree is the only thing in the yard that has mulch. For the ornamental bushes I'm keeping, I'm wondering if I need to remove the grass, sheet mulch it (cardboard?), Or if I can just put down mulch and the grass will just die and become mulch itself.